The Six of Hearts
by Child at Heart Forever
Summary: When Natsu, Juvia, and Levy come back from a joint job, their reward is a dinner on the house for them...PLUS one guest each. That alone is odd, but thanks to Cana's predictions, things needlessly escalate into romantic implications! And yet Lucy, Gray, and Gajeel will still try to tell you the same thing: it's NOT really a date... Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy
1. The Implications of This Are Interesting

**Hello, this is my first Fairy Tail story! I've read one too many -surprisingly awesome- romance stories, and now I'm throwing one of my own into the pot, although I admittedly start off rather slow in the love department. Each chapter focuses on a different couple (Lucy and Natsu, Gray and Juvia, Gajeel and Levy) but it's all one big overarching plot. Hopefully there's a little something for everybody!**

**With that being said, I hope you enjoy! ^^**

* * *

"Cana, what exactly are you doing?"

That was the vocalized thought of the first batch of wizards who had gathered in the Fairy Tail guild that Wednesday morning, the collective few now huddled around the Card Mage that was carefully eyeing the arcana cards that were splayed out before her. Chocolate brown hair draped over her shoulders and created a curtain around her thoughtful expression- a concentration only broken when she reached for a jug of wine and started heartily chugging it.

"Nothing, nothing…I just decided to do a fortune reading and see if anything interesting was going to happen anytime soon," she mused between gulps, although the likes of Macao and Wakaba knew that there was more to it than that. The smug look that stained her alcohol-glazed lips was _far_ too coy at the moment.

"And did you discover anything?" asked a curious Mirajane on behalf of the also early-risen Master Makarov and Erza, who were intrigued by Cana's findings but were pretending not to notice. Cana shot them all a fierce look as she reached into the myriad of cards spread in front of her and plucked out one that was definitely out of place among the rest.

It was a _playing card_ rather than one of her tarots, and it wasn't even anything of value- just the rather ordinary six of hearts. To the untrained eye, there was nothing significant about it at all.

"So…what? Did a card from last night's Poker game just get mixed in with your own deck?" remarked Wakaba with a flick of his cigar.

"Whether or not that's the case doesn't even matter," Cana practically sang, waving the playing card around like it was a winning lottery ticket. "Because when it comes to fortune telling, everything's got a meaning, and boy is this a big one…"

"So what _is_ it?" demanded Laki, and everyone really wished to know the same. They could tell Cana was dying to draw this out as long as possible, but she was also known for giving people precise what they wanted when they wanted it, so she casually flicked the questionable card into the air and leaned back lazily in her chair.

"It means that six people from the guild are in for a little romance, which'll be kicking off _today_."

Her eyes narrowed slyly as whispers were born from the crowd, as gossip was a hot commodity around Fairy Tail, with romance being among the biggest topics. A few prodded Cana eagerly for more delicious details that they knew she had, but she just grinned with a drunken smirk and refused to spoil any surprises.

The six of hearts fluttered to the ground, landing face up and displaying its value to the world…completely ignorant of the events it had somehow managed to foretell.

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 1: The Implications of This Are Interesting~

"Good morning, everyone!"

The bright and cheery voice belonged to none other than Lucy Heartfilia, greeting her guild family in her usual upbeat manner with full confidence that today was destined to be a good one. She waved at everyone she passed with her emblem-endowed hand; a gesture repeatedly returned by the group with smiles, nods, and waves of their own. But no matter what the reaction she received, arriving at the guild each day was always a pleasant experience.

Lucy took her usual seat up at the bar, where the faint aroma of wine and alcohol tinged the air. Glancing slightly to her left, she noted that Cana had already guzzled down her morning keg at a nearby table, and was now doing a fortune reading for Wendy. Carla was wrapped in Wendy's arms as the young girl happily bounced in place with anticipation, wondering what the cards would predict for for her.

Lucy kept scanning the main hall, wondering who else was loitering about that day. Gajeel was helping himself to a breakfast that was rich in iron –scratch that, nothing _but_ iron- while the males of the Thunder Legion were teasing Evergreen about Elfman as per usual. Erza and Makarov were discussing something about an S-Class mission, and Lisanna was assisting Mirajane with people's orders. Even Romeo was actually laughing and spending time with his father Macao, which was a rare sight nowadays.

Essentially, everything was quite normal…except that there was no fire-breathing Salamander stomping around looking to pick a fight with just about anyone who leered at him the wrong way or who was looking to test their strength. Frankly one of Lucy's highlights each day was learning what insanity was brewing long before she ever arrived at the guild, but that particular day seemed to be devoid of such antics. It was almost a little disconcerting…

Lucy slightly frowned to herself as Gray Fullbuster sauntered over, one hand in the pocket of his pants as he greeted her with the other accompanied by a lopsided smile.

"Morning, Luce," he said casually enough, taking a seat next to her. To her surprise he was fully clothed for once. "What's on your mind? You look confused."

"I was just wondering where Natsu was at," Lucy remarked, leaning around Gray to double check the area. Natsu _and _Happy were pretty tough targets to miss, but… "Hard to believe he isn't here already filling the room with his bombastic personality…"

"Oh! He, Juvia, and Levy went off on a job together sometime last night after you left!" Mirajane exclaimed brightly from the other side of the counter. "It was a request that specifically asked for them, and it supposedly included a surprise reward that Nastu and Happy were really interested in learning about!"

"Those fools were wanting it to be a million Jewels…and I don't even want to know what was going on in Juvia's head," scoffed Gray offhandedly. Lucy smirked and elbowed his arm.

"Yeah, I hope she wasn't thinking _you_ were somehow going to be the prize!"

Gray shot her a look and grunted something under his breath as Lucy started giggling to herself. As much as Juvia was obsessed with Gray, she still was a true friend, and if you got past the "Love Rival" thing, Juvia was one of Lucy's favorite people to talk to.

"Oi, don't rush them so much Lucy!" called Macao from the back of the guild. "We're all just trying to enjoy a nice day without the place being flooded or burnt to a crisp!"

"I wasn't rushing them!" Lucy insisted adamantly over the roars of laughter and agreement that arose afterwards. "I just wanted to know where they were, sheesh."

"WE MISS LEVY!" wailed Jet and Droy, cuing various groans and less than pleasant remarks telling them to pipe down.

Seeing as she opened a can of worms that wouldn't be closing any time soon, Lucy groaned and slammed her forehead into the counter, with Gray giving her a half-reassuring half-sarcastic pat on the back. This only caused her to gripe even more disgruntledly, and suddenly Mirajane was stifling laughter. Not amused, Lucy brought her head back up and quirked a golden eyebrow at her.

"And what's got you so giddy, Mira?"

"Just you- you're so adorable!" Mirajane gushed. Lucy already didn't like the track this conversation was headed down. "I bet you're so interested about their whereabouts because you were looking forward to seeing Natsu!"

Mirajane's teasing was thick with implications. Lucy felt her face gain a shade of red at the mere suggestion, and failed to notice the shrewd look Cana was giving her from across the room.

"I wouldn't say I was _utterly_ looking forward to it, but he _is _my teammate," Lucy huffed in her defense. "He's always so eager to drag me everywhere that it's just weird whenever he goes on a job without me, not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Just ignore everyone- they'll be back soon enough, and then Erza will probably whisk our team off to slay a giant poisonous eel or something," murmured Gray, and the saddest part about that statement was that it was more than likely to happen. Lucy's gaze darted over to where the armored wizard was standing- thank goodness she hadn't heard. Otherwise both she and Gray would probably be acquainted with a wall right about then…

As Gray sipped on an ice-cold smoothie and Lucy took Mirajane's mind off of her wild romance fantasies that were only a step down from Juvia's, Gajeel stomped over and nearly knocked Lucy out of her own chair with the force he used upon sitting down. She stared at him bewilderedly; he didn't even look at her as he eyed Mirajane with his usual neutral sneer.

"Got any more silverware? I just finished up a pretty tasty ladle but I'm still starving," he said with the utmost deadpan, and Gray couldn't help but make a face.

"What kind of messed up world do we live in when that is a perfectly normal statement?"

Gajeel's eyes intensified as his fist slammed the counter. He rose as quickly as he had sat down to lean over towards Gray, hovering above a shuddering Lucy at the same time.

"You've got something you want to say to me, you brainless popsicle?"

Gray stepped to the challenge and brought up his fists. "Who are you calling brainless, tin head?! With all that metal you eat I bet you've got bolts for brains!"

"Guys, do we _really_ have to do this now…?" Lucy winced, surrounded by the rising tension that would eventually escalate into her being smack dab in the middle of a showdown. Both Gajeel and Gray tossed her out of the way so they could lock heads with each other, and a few particularly scrappy guild members started gathering around to encourage the violence. Lucy yelped as she landed on the floor, knowing nothing good was about to come from this.

"Good heavens, and here I thought the barbaric factor would go _down _without Natsu around," remarked Carla, she, Wendy, and Cana observing from a distance. "I suppose we can't even go an hour without someone beating on a fellow guild member…"

"Think about what you're doing, Gray!" Wendy shouted, harboring a strong dislike for violence when it wasn't necessary. "Gajeel doesn't exactly have the softest fists…"

"Ya got that right," snarled the Iron Dragon Slayer, shifting his arms into metal rods and eagerly flashing his fangs at Gray. Lucy was scrambling away on the floor as Gray lost his shirt in the process of taking a fighting stance, punching a fist into his opposite palm and calling out a spell.

And that was the end of any decency.

Tables went flying, chairs were spontaneously airborne, and Lucy was screaming for her life as she managed to take cover behind the counter with Mirajane. Even with the meager protection, chunks of ice and iron still managed to find their way over to her and clonked her repeatedly in the head. Mirajane hastily asked if she was fine, and while Lucy assured that she had worse, it definitely wasn't appreciated.

"Next time you better watch yourself when you make fun of my diet!" Gajeel roared, swinging at Gray with an Iron Sword. Gray swiftly dodged and ducked under it before conjuring up twin ice swords of his own and hacking in retaliation.

"You started it by calling me brainless! I'd expect such a lame insult from Natsu, but-"

"Don't compare me to that dork! I'm better than him anywhere, anytime!"

"Then why do we have yet to see you live up to that claim?"

Gray barely managed to finish that sentence as Gajeel nearly pinned him to the floor, which only allowed Gray to drive his boot into Gajeel's stomach. Iron abs or not, it was still a tough enough blow to send Gajeel skyrocketing. Gajeel adjusted himself in the air and released an Iron Dragon Roar, which managed to break through Gray's Ice Shield and propel him backwards.

"Aren't you going to do something, Master?" Erza murmured seriously, all the while Makarov was pinching the bridge of his nose.

"As long as it isn't Natsu instigating the fighting, I'm not going to get involved," was the haughty response. Erza put her hands on her hips and gave Makarov a rather disapproving glance.

"Such a reckless way to run a guild…"

"Oh come now, like you haven't had your fair share of all-out brawls with Mirajane back in the day."

Erza had opened her mouth to retaliate, only to find that she couldn't and slowly closed her jaw again. Her eyes rolled over to where Lucy and Mirajane were poking their heads around the corner of their makeshift shield, with the white-haired wizard chuckling with bemusement at the Master's attitude.

"There's nothing like starting the day off with some adrenaline!"

"Apparently it's the only way to start a day around here," murmured Lucy wearily. Mirajane's smile was practically permanent as she put a hand on Lucy's shoulder. Her expression seriously contrasted the boiling rage between Gray and Gajeel at the moment, and even for Mirajane that was a little strange. "…what are you so inexplicably happy about? You've been more giggly than usual and now you're smiling like a fool while two people are beating each other senseless!"

"But how can I not smile when that bit of information I learned about earlier has me so bubbly?" An huge icicle sailed over Mirajane's head as she spoke and crashed against the wall behind her. Even _that _wasn't enough to faze her. "I mean, six lucky people from our guild are getting a chance at romantic happiness!"

Lucy's heart skipped a beat as her head whipped around to face Mirajane straight on, just as an explosion of steel and ice erupted behind her.

"Wh-what did you say…?"

But Mirajane had clasped her hands together, hearts dancing in her eyes as she daydreamed happily and stuff continue to fall apart all around her.

"Ah, it's such a wonderful thing! I've been around the guild for so long, and each and every one of you deserves a shot at happiness and love…I just can't wait to see who gets to be that lucky!"

Lucy stared at a contently gushing Mirajane for a moment longer before blinking herself out of her stupor and glancing at the ground. She had once told Cana that maybe love wasn't exactly in her future…but she'd be lying if she said she never thought about it. Who didn't? Whether it be as extreme as a future family to simple fantasies of a nice date, Lucy probably fell square in the middle- she just wanted someone to be happy with, regardless of the circumstances.

Sure, she had her ideal man all pictured in her mind- attractive, but maybe not quite "Blue Pegasus standards". Intelligent enough to discuss literature in his free time, but also socially educated and would fit right in at a party or two. Kind, of course, but a few quirks in his personality to keep things interesting…

Bah, who was she kidding? While she could probably snag a guy if she really, _really_ wanted, she was already plenty content enough with her lifelong friends here at the guild.

…but it would be nice if she was among the lucky few Mirajane had spoken of.

Now mildly curious herself, Lucy's mind was hardly on the fierce battle to the death with Gray and Gajeel anymore. Gray's pants were now among the dearly departed, leaving behind only his navy boxers, and Gajeel was taking a bite out of anything remotely metal that he came across and was repeatedly scolded by Pantherlily. Aside from a few tables, chairs, and holes in the wall, hardly anything had been destroyed. Props had to be given for a relatively clean a fight…

A fight that finally ended when the entrance to the guild was kicked open and a fang-flashing Natsu Dragneel popped up on the other side.

"...hey, what the heck? What are you doing having a brawl without me?!"

Happy, Juvia, and Levy stood wide-eyed behind him, with Gajeel and Gray braking in midair just as they were about to land final blows on each other. The duo dropped to the ground with their mouths slightly hanging opening while Natsu happily marched forwards with his arm muscles bulging and ready for a fight.

"Come on guys, deal me in! I'm getting fired up just thinking about this!"

Lucy could feel the panic rise in the room as the thought of Natsu ramping up the destruction crossed everyone's minds, and she was inclined to agree. Natsu had that dangerous toothy grin on his face and fire was already leaking out of the corners of his mouth.

"Nope, I'm drawing the line here!" Makarov interrupted, using his powers to pull Gajeel and Gray apart. Erza nodded in approval behind him. "Get it out of your system now, you brats!"

Natsu paused in mid step and pouted slightly while Gray and Gajeel exchanged rather spiteful looks before turning away and calling off the feud for the moment. Juvia took in Gray's near-naked visage and sighed with her own brand of disappointment.

"Ah, but I wanted to see my darling Gary show off his vastly superior strength against Gajeel…" she swooned, with Lucy shaking her head. "Surely his power would increase the moment he noticed me cheering him on with all my heart…!"

Levy of all people puffed out her cheeks at that statement, but quickly realized that she had to be the responsible one this time around and stepped forward.

"Um, anyway, you'll all be happy to know that our job was a success!"

At these words, the mood in the room entirely turned upside down, and now everyone was curious to some degree about the mystery mission and the strange combination team designated to complete it. Levy beamed at the collective interest –sans Jet and Droy clawing their way to the front of the crowd to hear her next words first. Lucy had eventually pulled out of her hiding place and hustled over to hear the news, always eager to hear what was going on with Levy.

"Our client was a kind nobleman who needed a little security for the party he was throwing last night," Levy began, tucking a strand of blue hair behind her ear. "I was tasked with deciphering a coded note he'd received beforehand, and the suspicions he had were true- an old enemy from his past was planning to seek revenge at the get together."

"Yeah, Juvia and I got to toss out a couple of rowdy idiots and it was _awesome_!" whooped Natsu with a pump of his fist. Happy copied the action as he took to the air with equivalent glee.

"Aye, and they were serving a _ton _of tasty fish! Ooh, it was worth it enough just for that!"

Lucy smiled bemusedly at Natsu and Happy's expected reaction but found herself curious about Juvia's role in things. As if the water mage had read her mind, Juvia's eyes had sparkled as she somewhat shyly turned her gaze towards her shoes.

"In fact it was I that apprehended the criminal," she mused with a small satisfied smile. "Of course, Natsu and Happy took care of the majority of the underlings with quite a bit of finesse, which left me to handle the ring leader…in the end it was hardly any trouble."

"That's a pretty manly move!" called Elfman, and a few other guild members voiced their agreement.

"I wouldn't expect anything less, Juvia," Gray remarked with a smirk, turning Juvia's once pale face a bright vermillion.

"So what's the reward?" Erza demanded out of the blue once Natsu and Happy launched themselves into a reenactment of the hard fought battle. The duo halted in the middle of Happy pretending to be punched by Natsu, then stood to attention to answer the question…but were beaten to the punch by Juvia and Levy, who had bizarrely latched their hands together and squealed like excited school girls.

"Our client's paying for dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town!" they shrieked, unable to contain their enthusiasm. "Fully paid for all three of us…plus one guest each! So six of us are getting a free meal on Friday!"

Mirajane was the first to congratulate the trio on a job well done, followed by Erza, Lisanna, and a knee-slapping chortling Cana. A few of the lesser members of the guild had lost interest at this point, but suddenly Lucy's full attention was on the trio after hearing the number "six". Her jaw dropped as she watched Juvia and Levy bounce gleefully in place, but her eyes eventually fell onto Natsu, who was giving off as many vibes of excitement as the girls.

But for whatever reason he was subduing it, glancing away slightly as he scratched his cheek.

She removed herself from the now buzzing crowd, making her way backwards toward the counter and gripping it for support. Only minutes ago had Mirajane been gushing about six lucky people...and were three of them now standing in front of her?

And was one of them really _Natsu_?!

"Woo, get a hold of yourself Lucy," she scolded herself, grabbing at her heart in an attempt to make it stop beating so fast. "No need to get so worked up over something silly Mira heard...Mira tries to pair up people all the time! She probably latched onto the first piece of romantic gossip she got her hands on and was spouting nonsense!"

Yes, that had to be it! The mere fact that particular trio had earned a special dinner was just a crazy coincidence. Lucy laughed as she pulled herself back onto her bar stool, mostly cackling at herself for getting so anxious at Juvia, Levy, and _Natsu_ of all people getting _lucky in love, _given their track records with such a topic. She almost launched herself into hysterical tears after thinking up that one.

Mirajane had returned to her post moments later as Lucy was grabbing her stomach and dabbing her eyes, and the She-Devil had to look over Lucy twice to make sure the blonde wasn't having some sort of seizure.

"I'm fine Mira," Lucy waved off, feeling a little like she did the day Natsu had her all worked up over digging a hole for some embarrassing photos- all because of Mirajane's silly implications! She wasn't about to fall for a seven-year-old trick again! Eventually she calmed herself enough to smirk at Mira. "Ah, I was just thinking about what you said to me earlier, about the six lucky lovers."

Lucy stifled another round of giggles as Mirajane put a hand to her hip. "Oh yeah? And what about that has you in stitches?"

"Ha, because I almost thought that three of them were Levy, Juvia, and _Natsu_. The girls who can barely grab their crushes' attention and the most clueless boy in the world when it comes to love..." Lucy mentally admitted that the description was a touch harsh, but that was just the harsh reality at the same time. Mirajane gave her a disapproving look, and Lucy decided she'd better clarify everything before laughing any further. "...who told you that malarkey anyway?"

"From Cana, of course! She did a fortune reading this morning while some of us early birds were lingering around!" Once again Mira's expression was bright as a star as she clasped her hands together. "She said that six people were about to come into some romance within the next few days. Isn't that exciting?!"

Lucy felt her chest lock.

"...well _crap_."

Cana Alberona's fortunes were scarcely ever wrong. And if Lucy's hunch was correct, then that mere dinner outing was going to be the start of something huge for that particular trio... The people who'd be involved with Levy and Juvia were more than obvious, yet Lucy wasn't worried about that.

It was the fact that in an instant, thanks to one fortune and one single job reward, Natsu Dragneel would finally get a taste of what romance was like..._that_ was what had worried her most.

And at the same time, she couldn't figure out why that utterly scared her.

. . .

"You know, I was really hoping for some cold hard cash, but there's no way I can complain about free food!"

Natsu finally had a chance to sit down once the curious crowd had dispelled, the pink-haired dragon slayer leaning back in his chair while Lisanna treated Happy to a much deserved fish. The small Exceed chomped on it contently, fully engrossed with the flavor, while Natsu was just glad he could take it easy for a little bit. As weak as their opponents had been, tossing out mook after mook was still exhausting, and camping out last night hadn't been the most luxurious experience.

"The fanciest restaurant in town…ooh, what if they have an all you can eat fish buffet?!" exclaimed Happy between bites, looking dreamy just thinking about it. Natsu let out a low chuckle and ruffled the fur on his head.

"Yeah, that'd be a dream come true for you, wouldn't it?" he hummed, and Happy acknowledged this with a nod and cheeks stuffed to the max. Natsu would be lying if he said various fish, meats, and savory dishes weren't on his mind, but thanks to a certain conversation his super-sensitive hearing was picking up on, there were other things on his mind as well…

He tried to drone out Happy's muffled and barely coherent fantasies on what would be on their plates that upcoming night, instead trying to focus on a discussion Wendy and Carla were having. Normally he wouldn't be prying, but he'd heard his name crop up and of course had to see what was up.

"…at least they have something to look forward to," Wendy had commented with a small smile, the tips of her canines just barely protruding out of her mouth. "You certainly can't fault Natsu and Happy for their consistent enthusiasm!"

"Yes," Carla agreed evenly, leaping out of Wendy's arms and taking a stand on the table. "But those two numskulls are forgetting a certain aspect of the reward…"

Wendy tilted her head curiously, her long blue hair sweeping over her dress. "What do you mean, Carla?"

"I mean that they're so focused on the food that they're neglecting the other half of the reward, child!" the white feline exclaimed. "And that's whom Natsu's plus one is going to be. Surely he wouldn't be so daft as to go to this outing with just that tomcat as company..."

Oh, Natsu hadn't forgotten, and the whole reason he hadn't chimed up about it was so that people wouldn't talk, but lo and behold, people were talking anyway. Yes, he was pumped about a vast sea of free food, but he wasn't stupid either. Of course he'd been thinking about it…

"But it's not even that big of a deal!" Wendy assured, holding her hands up. "It's just a reward in the form of a nice dinner! It's not like Natsu's -or anyone's- choice is going to be a life-changing decision!"

Natsu noted that a spark suddenly danced across Cana's eyes, and reading her lips managed to derive "Well there's _three_" from her. What the hell was that supposed to mean, and did it have something to do with him…?

"You know what I mean, child." Carla's stare narrowed as she folded her arms. "I respect that boy, I really do, but when it comes to fine etiquette…I fear he lacks in that department."

Her eyes darted over to him for a split second; Natsu pretended to be far more interested in Happy licking a fish bone, but kept his ears trained on the discussion.

"Like I said, it shouldn't be that big of a deal," Wendy insisted, determinedly clenching her fists. "As long as Natsu chooses someone he'll have fun with, I doubt anything can go wrong."

Carla knew she wasn't going to be able to win that debate, so she let the matter drop and suggested that Wendy take on a job for the day. As the two whisked themselves over to the request board, Natsu tried not to look too suspicious as he mulled over what he'd heard.

He was well aware that he wasn't an expert in…_date_ situations, but if Wendy was certain that it wasn't something to take seriously, then he wouldn't get so worked up. She was right; as long as he picked someone he could have fun with, nothing could go wrong at all…

Natsu's first thought was actually Lisanna, as the two had barely interacted since her return, and it would be nice to catch up on old times. It was a near perfect idea- Lisanna was quite free when it came to plans, and she'd been working so hard around the guild. Which, in hindsight, probably helped constitute why they didn't hang out with each other as often…

…but his_ true_ first thought, originally in the back of his mind, had been Lucy.

It would be a perfect way to repay her for that meal she'd paid for the day they had met, and while they spent a lot of time together on missions –including but not limited to saving each other's lives, fighting to the death against a plethora of foes, and proving Fairy Tail's worth- rarely did they ever hang out simply as friends…unless you counted the _very_ few times he got away with sneaking into her apartment through the window. She really was his best friend and if anyone deserved this it was her.

Natsu turned around in his chair to check up on her- after all the commotion, she had migrated back to the bar, facing away from him but looking deeply in thought about something. His head tilted with interest, wondering what she was thinking about, until his mind drifted into thinking about how she'd react to going out to dinner with him.

"I know she's always obsessed with getting a boyfriend," he rumbled under his breath with a touch of disdain. "What if she gets some solid idea for this outing and it doesn't live up to expectations…?"

And now he was torn, huffing as he leaned forward and rested his chin against the table. Happy's ears twitched when he picked up the light thud sound, prying away from his fish to acknowledge Natsu.

"Hey, are you okay? Is your tummy experiencing some backlash from the train ride home?"

"No Happy." Thinking about that nauseously horrific train ride home was _not _helping calm the torrent within him. Still, he managed to crack a smile and wink at his blue companion. "Nah, I was just thinking about how much it sucks that we have to wait two more days before this free meal!"

"Aye sir!" Happy chirped in agreement, even giving Natsu a salute before deciding that Carla needed some of his attention. Natsu smirked as he sauntered away, although it slowly dissipated when his gaze turned back to Lucy. Her back was still facing him, but somehow he could sense she was feeling as conflicted as he was.

Grah, he didn't want to ask her if she'd just wind up disappointed…! But then what if he didn't ask her, and then she was disappointed about THAT?!

Anyone watching him would think him even more insane than usual as he made many various zany and exotic expressions at himself. But eventually he resolved to make Lucy the first one he'd ask. Ideal scenario, they'd just go have a meal as friends and come out with a better bond and refreshed spirit…

…but best case scenario, maybe that little outing could be a real date, even if it was just to see what it was like.

And best case scenario, he wouldn't find some way to screw it up.


	2. Do Water Droplets Melt Cold Hearts?

**Grah, this one was hard, as I was going through that "second chapter funk"- where you want to get to the good parts of the plot, but you have to set things up first. Gah. xD**

**Anyway, two quick points to make:**

**1\. This story takes place post-Grand Magic Games and the movie has happened as well.  
2\. Juvia. I have it so that she speaks primarily in first-person, but to pay homage to her original character portrayal, she dips into third-person when she's overly emotional (excited, upset, furious, etc.) I know some people have it so that she's constantly third-person, which is fine, but I...can't do that. I hope that's okay.**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 2: Do Water Droplets Melt Cold Hearts?~

"Be still, my vibrantly pounding heart…for the sounds of each love-filled beat sends ripples coursing through my entire being!"

Why yes, Juvia was aware that she may have been laying it on a bit thick, even with no one around to overhear her romanticize the simplest of moments, but when you were this ecstatic, it was perfectly justified. There were few times in her life where she could genuinely look forward to anything, and it wasn't until she joined Fairy Tail did she even get to have that experience. Even if it was only looking forward to seeing her new friends every day.

Especially Gray. Not that it was a secret or anything.

But now she was bursting at the seams as she twirled about the guild hall, weaving about between the rows of tables with pure joy radiating off of her. She couldn't help but think about the kindness that her client had shown the previous night, and to think that he was generous enough to provide a free meal for herself and five of her friends! That was far more valuable than any amount of money in her eyes, because nothing was more priceless than a good memory.

And while she was content enough with that alone, and was more than willing to spread her happiness to other as she gallivanted through the guild simply because she _could_, there was just one little, _tiny _thing that would make the whole situation that much sweeter…

"A night spent with my darling Gray would be an irreplaceable memory indeed," Juvia sighed to herself, bringing her hands to her face as she exhaled. "I could just melt with the anticipation…!"

How blessed was she, receiving something she'd always wanted as a reward for a measly job? Out of the three, she was easily the most excited, yet while the other two were plenty happy as well, Levy had been somewhat nervous while Natsu acted downright perplexed. Juvia pondered this quietly as she searched around the guild for her job partners- Levy was seemingly staring off into the distance while Jet and Droy worshipped her, and the ends of Juvia's lips curled up. What she wouldn't give for that same adoration from Gray.

…she did wonder what in the world was up with Natsu, though. Physically he was the same as ever, calling out for battle challenges with a wide smile, but there was something about his eyes that betrayed his demeanor; like his mind was elsewhere, and long gone at that. Juvia knew, because she often wore a similar look herself.

"Perhaps he ate something weird?" she reasoned to herself, shrugging afterward and continuing her joyful jaunt through the hall. Maybe she'd ask later, but right now she was far too preoccupied with the torrent of possibilities her date could go! She ran the date scenario through her head many times with different variations each round, but for some reason nothing Juvia pictured seemed to be the right fit. So many nice thoughts, yes…but what was the best outcome?!

She then shuddered when something whizzed into her, having harmlessly passed through her liquid body and plunked against the ground. Juvia knelt down to investigate what it was, only to smile slightly when she found it was just a rubber bullet.

Upon standing back up, she found Bisca and Alzack chatting at a table, where little Asuka was sitting in between them. The girl was playfully firing her toy gun at anyone who meandered by –Juvia was lucky she didn't feel the shot meant for her- and she squealed contently when she managed to get a cork stuck in Max's ear. Juvia smiled to herself as Bisca lifted her daughter into her lap and reprimanded her for shooting at friends…and she playfully hit Alzack afterwards when he gave Asuka praise for at least hitting her mark.

Admittedly, Juvia couldn't hear what they were saying anymore as she had walked out of earshot, but something in her enabled her to pause where she stood and gift them a glance over her shoulder. She couldn't hear what the married couple were saying, but she didn't need to- the love they had for each was so true and palpable that it spoke volumes, and it was something Juvia could almost physically _see_. It was in everything the pair did- the way their hands intertwined in their laps, the way their faces softened when they looked each other in the eyes…heck, they had a child wedged between them, and if that wasn't the purest sign of love Juvia didn't know what was!

And she of all people knew it the most, as she envisioned such a blissful scene for herself a countless many times, and it was none other than Gray Fullbuster who accompanied her in those fantasies.

Oh, how she wished she could achieve a happy ending like Bisca and Alzack…! Juvia was absolutely happy for them, but when would it be her turn?

"Aaaaww…"

Another sigh escaped her as she turned heel and continued on her way, this time with a little less panache. She meandered on like that until her beloved Gray came into her field of view, and out of instinct she regressed into hiding behind a pillar and poking her head around its corner. Three hours earlier he'd been near naked and going head-to-head with one of the guild's strongest members, and now there he was, drinking a rather refreshing glass of water with his clothes back on. He looked so at peace…and all Juvia could think about was him in the same position, only at her side, sitting at a nice table at the fanciest restaurant in Magnolia…

"Aaaaaaah…!"

One successful date would launch into many more…! Each one would be better than the last, with her beloved Gray falling more head over heels each and every time…! Juvia's grip around the pillar tightened as hearts filled her eyes, more than enamored with the very thought.

But wait! What was_ this_? Gray was rising from his seat now, locking eyes with Juvia from across the room! The water mage's heart started beating at an incomparably fast rate once again as she removed herself from behind the pillar, blood pressure rising with every step he took that lessened the distance between them. The rest of the guild seemed to fade away into a pink haze as Juvia's gaze was focused solely onto the delight that was Gray, whose shirt had inexplicably became unbuttoned during his agonizingly slow jaunt over to her.

"Juvia…!" Her name tumbled through his lips once they were within arm's length of each other, Gray reaching out to grab Juvia and entirely wipe out the remaining space keeping them apart. "I've waited so long for you to return from that mission, and you're finally back where you belong- in my arms…!"

"Oh Gray-sama, Juvia was only gone for but a day and a night!" Juvia said soothingly, getting lost in Gray's shining eyes.

"A time that's like an eternity to me." His words were smooth and decadent like verbal candy; it was just as sweet to her ears as chocolate would be to her taste buds. "And better yet, fate has gifted us with the chance to ignite our burning passion for one another!"

"My reward!" Juvia gasped as though she'd forgotten. Gray's appearance had hastily swept anything but him from her mind. "Surely you're not suggesting-!"

"I beg of thee, Juvia! Allow me to accompany you on this outing!" Gray dropped to a knee and produced a rose from his sleeve before completely tearing his shirt off –although now his neck sported a bowtie- and gazing lovingly at Juvia. "Nothing would make me happier than to spend a night- nay, _every_ night at the side of the loveliest woman in the world, and every day ever after!"

Gray's eyes narrowed as he smirked suggestively at her. Juvia's heart was nearly just one continuous thump at this point.

"Let's get _married_, Juvia!"

"Yes, yes of course my love!" Juvia wailed, flinging herself forward to land in the sweet bliss that was Gray's arms and just never let go…

…until she realized too late that no one was really there and ended up affectionately embracing the floor instead. Whining slightly, Juvia brought her head up and searched the guild- sure enough, Gray was still in the same place she'd been eyeing him at, and he wasn't even glimpsing in her direction. However, she wasn't discouraged. Juvia jumped back to her feet and dusted her blue dress off, tilting her head while clasping her hands together.

"Ah, well, perhaps all of that can still come to be from our date on Friday…" she gushed, until the hearts in her eyes suddenly broke from a horrid realization. "Wait a second…I haven't even _asked_ him yet!"

And it was like the world suddenly snapped in two.

"Juvia still needs to ASK Gray-sama…! KAAAAAAAA!"

Waves of nervousness washed over her- she'd gotten better at bringing herself to speak to him, as she did earn a nice spot in his tight-knit circle of friends. Yet whenever she confronted him of her ever-burning love for him, it always ended with heart-wrenching responses.

"You're out of your mind!" "I don't have time for this!" "Would you please focus on the mission at hand?" "I already told you; I'm _not_ interested…"

Juvia's confidence admittedly wavered as all those previous offhanded rejections came flying back to her. What if Gray thought this was another one of her "schemes" to spend time with him and he once again denied her a few rays of happiness? Would she be alone at dinner that night, forced to listen to the soul-torturing sounds of Natsu and Levy having a better time than her?!

Her cessation was only temporary, as she firmly got a grip on herself and determinedly clenched her fists in front of her.

"No, I can do this! I've asked him out to eat before! Granted, that _was_ interrupted by Lyon…" Oh, how awkward THAT had been, but there were far more pleasant memories of times actually spent with Gray. Romantic or not, the truth was he did like spending time with her, and Juvia tried her best to never take advantage of that. "…it will be different this time! No vile villains, no third wheels, no interruptions, and no reason for him to say no! Finally, Juvia gets a chance to spend some quality time with Gray-sama!"

Juvia let out such an excited scream to the heavens that Reedus and Warren looked up from what they were doing, just in time to see the girl bolt off in one direction with a smile on her face that could've easily have been made of sunshine and rainbows.

"Erm, do you think she knows about Cana's prediction…?" Warren remarked. Reedus quickly shook his head and returned to his painting.

"Whether she knows or not wouldn't change a thing for that precious girl…" the painter returned, dipping his brush into a vibrant shade of red and dabbing it onto his blank-white canvas. A heart-shape imprint was made, and after scrutinizing it with intrigue, he added five more. "No, I'm far more curious to see what Gray would do if he knew…"

. . .

Sure the fight with Gajeel had him a bit riled up, but like Gramps had wanted, Gray had gotten everything out of his system and was back to relaxing with his ice cold water. Gajeel had thundered off disinterestedly once their skirmish had ended and Levy had stolen the guild's focus with her group's return. Gray was a little more interested with the job they were tasked with rather than the reward –something felt _off_ to him, and yet the trio was prohibited from disclosing too many details- but that had been hours ago, and now he just wanted to enjoy the rest of his day with his clothes on.

He sort of wanted to go talk to Lucy again, seeing as they were having a perfectly normal conversation until Gajeel butted in, but now that Juvia was back, that was hazardous for all involved. In fact, now that he thought about it, he did have that creepy feeling crawling over him…like someone was observing him and trying to be discreet about it…

He flicked his gaze over his shoulder, expecting to spot a certain watery mage trying to wedge herself into the tiniest crevice to view him from afar.

Surprisingly enough, he found out quickly, it wasn't Juvia who was ogling him behind his back. It was _Erza_, circling him from a distance like a predator shark…or something. Gray actually shivered as he managed to catch her glance away at the last possible second, and now that he was aware she was observing him, he felt like he was being analyzed. Now that she was caught, Erza was doing an amazing job at acting busy and bossy as per usual, but she moved about the room in a perfect loop with him dead in the center.

Either way Gray was feeling incredibly uncomfortable, but seeing as it was Titania herself, he couldn't exactly tell her to buzz off unless he wanted a sword through his neck. Guess he had to be diplomatic…

"Ice Make Floor," he uttered under his breath, conjuring a magic circle on the ground beneath him. He then snapped his fingers and created an icy patch right in Erza's path, just quickly enough so that Erza missed it and ended up sliding about. Gray made it so that she'd slide right up to him, as risky as such a maneuver was, but with her lying helplessly on the ground and him gently putting a boot on her torso to prevent escape, she was completely busted.

Or _Fullbusted_, in this case.

"What are you doing?" Gray deadpanned, and now that they were engaged in conversation, Erza couldn't just walk away without drawing suspicion. Tossing her hair over her shoulder as she gathered up what remained of her dignity, she folded her arms and acted like she'd done nothing wrong.

"I was merely observing you to see if you were involved," Erza huffed. Gray had to take a few seconds to let that one register.

"…involved in what way?"

"You mean word hasn't gotten around to you yet?" she inquired with surprise, and now Gray was growing progressively more suspicious. "See, this is why everyone needs to get here the second the guild opens like me so they can be on top of issues like this-!"

"Erza, what the heck are you talking about?" Gray interrupted hastily, and Erza wasted no time with an explanation.

"It seems that Cana was messing around with her arcana again, and she came across a most interesting prediction. Apparently today is the start of something romantically big for six people; Cana didn't want to say who, however."

"Okay, that's great and all, but why are you so interested with _me_…?"

Erza's whole face lit up upon being asked, and to Gray it was like he was staring at a completely different person. In fact, Erza was almost scarier when she was acting mellow because it was so unnatural…

"Because I want to know who was predicted! With the return of the trio from that job earlier, and word of their reward, theories are now spreading that Natsu, Levy, and Juvia are three of the people involved."

_Fudge_. He knew where her line of thought was going now. Erza could see the enlightenment cross his face, and she let out a blissful hum.

"Seeing how well I know Juvia, I decided to see if you would end up being her match! I suppose I was a little conspicuous though." the redhead practically beamed as Gray reached for his no-longer cold water. Grimacing, he chilled it in his hand before taking the swig. "But anyway, what will you be wearing on your date with Juvia? If you need help with clothes, I'm always willing to lend a hand! I'll even supply spares, knowing your stripping habits-"

Erza wasn't sure if in that moment Gray had choked on his drink, was trying to spit it out, or a bizarre combination of both at the same time.

"What!?" the ice mage managed to sputter out, shooting Erza a fierce glance as he grabbed at his throat. "Match? Date? The heck are you talking about!?"

"Isn't it obvious? Juvia's earned a free meal for herself and another of her choosing, and it's no question who'll be on _her_ menu," Erza teased, which only served to intensify Gray's glare. Erza was already the worst when it came to casual conversation, as everything had to be taken so seriously, but this…!

"If you're trying to say what I think you are, you need to chill out." Gray ran his fingers through his hair exasperatedly. "Even if I do end up as her plus one to do her a kindness, I sincerely doubt anything's going to change. I've already made my stance on how I felt about her-"

"That's nothing but bull!" Erza suddenly roared, gaining a rather ghastly aura becoming ornery at the flip of a switch. Gray recoiled and twitched, but Erza could look as terrifying as she wanted- his mind was already set. "You _will_ be going on that date because you _want_ to, not 'just to be nice'! That's worse than flat-out not going at all!"

"It wouldn't be a date! And maybe I _won't_ go at all!" Gray barked back. "And who are you to tell me what to do?...what do you care, anyway?"

Erza was still clearly pissed at Gray's closed-mindedness here, but the hard look in her eyes decreased as she glanced away slightly. Gray again coaxed her for an answer to his questions; she cringed and gripped her opposite arm, and only then did Gray realize that she didn't have her usual armor on.

"You can't tell me you haven't seen it," Erza murmured, so low that Gray had to strain to hear. "There's a surefire hope in her eyes whenever you happen to cross her sights, and believe me, that spark is one of the last things you ever want to snuff out from someone. I've been on that horizon many times…and I just don't want you making a mistake you can't fix."

Gray shoved his hands in his pockets and had a staring contest with the ground. "Haven't you already admitted that you shouldn't be preaching to others about affairs of the heart?"

"Yes, but I refuse to stand idly by and let this fall apart just the same." The hardness to her tone returned, and that alone made Gray look Erza in the eye again. "That girl has weathered a storm her whole entire life, and you were the one who finally brought sunshine into her skies, Gray."

…the thing about that statement was that it was utterly true. Gloomy rain had plagued Juvia's childhood, and wherever Juvia went an umbrella accompanied her. The endless downpour has washed away any chances Juvia had of friendship, and whenever she was blessed enough to find herself in a relationship, it would soon crumble under the might of the rain. Gray was the first person to finally make it stop.

"…then surely you understand why she's so attached to you. You were the start of a positive change in her life, and now look at her." Erza continued as Gray stared forward, lost in thought but he had heard her. "She's so brightly positive and has so much love to give to others, not _just_ you…to be able to live such a miserable life and come out of it with a smile is a very precious thing, isn't it?"

"…the same could be said for nearly everyone in the guild though," rumbled Gray, but he did agree with the statement. Juvia seemed to be a particular prominent case, as she'd been near emotionless when they first met. Erza could sense she was finally getting through to him and couldn't resist a victorious little smirk.

"You might push her away when she gets a little extreme, but I've seen you spend quality time with her. Anyone can tell that you care about her a lot."

"…I do, but that care isn't necessarily love," Gray uttered miserably back. A light and short-lived laugh escaped from Erza as the tiniest of smiles crossed her face. "Stop looking like that! Are you trying to guilt me too? Because that's not going to work either. Look, I don't know what you heard from Cana, but nothing is going to happen between us. I mean, Juvia hasn't even approached me all day- what if she decided to play it safe and take Lyon instead?"

Erza gave him an almost laughably long look.

"…it's not impossible," Gray defended weakly, although his magic had a better chance of battling the flames of hell than Juvia settling for Lyon even for a night. Shaking her head, Erza put her fists on her hips and grimaced.

"Oh well, I guess I've said my piece. I'll leave you alone until I have further confirmation on my theories…"

"Good lord, Erza! You're treating one little prediction like a scripted destiny!" Gray exasperated. "Jeez, I know Cana's good at what she does, but maybe it won't happen in the way you expect…"

He stood straight to help emphasize his point; Erza just returned the confident look.

"Hm, perhaps it won't happen in the way you expect either…"

Erza didn't fail to notice the angry blush that now dusted his cheeks before she walked away. Gray assumed she was off to interrogate Levy or Natsu next –or straight up spy on them- and now she left him all flustered and confused and angry…and he didn't know why. Maybe he should have taken his chances with that sword through the neck-

And then he turned around and found himself face to face with Juvia.

"Oh good, you're finished with Erza!" she chirped brightly. Gray yelped and took a step backwards; he toppled straight into the chair he'd once been sitting in, and moments later he was entangled with it in an embarrassing heap. Juvia was frozen in place and tried to save Gray's dignity by not looking as he wrestling with the chair, but she couldn't stand to hear his suffering grunts and eventually knelt down to assist. After wrenching an arm and a leg from the grip of the chair, Juvia punted it across the room solely because it had caused Gray discomfort, then took his wrist and helped him up off the floor.

"Are you all right my darling?"

"Been better, but I'm fine," Gray assured, although he was unable to maintain eye contact. Great, Erza's little spiel had him off-kilter mentally _and_ physically. Maybe he should just go home before he got roped into anything _else_ beyond his control-

"Ah, wait, don't go," Juvia stammered, sensing that he was about to leave. Gray stopped himself before he even moved. "I suppose you may know what I'm about to ask you…"

"I guess I have a pretty good idea," Gray returned, although he could partially thank Erza for that one. It was all that was on his mind now! Juvia laughed a bit, although the smile evaporated shortly after. What the heck?

"I suppose in that case I already know the answer…" She tucked a strand of blue hair behind her ear as she nervously glanced about, trying to avoid looking at any part of Gray. "But I guess…I figured I'd get it out of the way anyway…"

Gray was silent for a few moments, still stewing over his latest thoughts, but he nodded at her to show she was listening. That was just the small nudge she needed, as she bounced in place and returned the gesture.

"Okay, Gray-sama…would you mind terribly if you accompanied me to dinner on Friday? It is free, and you are so incredible, and…you deserve something nice. Juvia would be delighted to be the one to give that to you."

Gray was admittedly thrown for a loop by the way she'd asked. He was expecting an over the top delivery of the question accompanied by some declaration of love and unnecessary physical contact. But now he felt awful for making assumptions, as she now stood before him with that _hope_ in her eyes Erza mentioned earlier, innocently awaiting the answer to a question. He struggled with the request for a moment, unsure of how to phrase his own response.

"Well, I-"

"Oh, Juvia _knew _it! She was such a fool for asking!" Gray did a double take as Juvia suddenly flew off the handle, grabbing at her heart in an attempt to keep it from shattering- over _nothing_, at that. "She is sorry she asked! Juvia knows you care for her only as a friend…she shouldn't have made you question yourself with such an insensitive inquiry! Please forgive her!"

With a quick spin and a whip of her hair, Juvia prepared to scramble away, but only managed to make it two steps before there was a firm grip on her right wrist and keeping her anchored in place.

"If you would let me finish a _sentence_," Gray scoffed, which only made him tighten his grip. Juvia relaxed in his hold, turning around just enough to properly look at him. Gray squirmed slightly when he caught another glimpse of her, but he knew what he wanted to say this time. "…Juvia, why do you look so upset? It's not a very fitting look for you."

"Sorry," she squeaked in retaliation. "I'm bracing for the inevitable worst…"

Gray rolled his eyes. "Quit being so dramatic- I'll go with you, all right? I don't usually do things like this, so…maybe it'll be a nice change of pace. It could be fun."

Juvia gasped in surprise, pulling out of Gray's grasp to gape at him. "R-really? You honestly will? Just like that?"

"No, not 'just like that'- I had to give it _some_ thought." Gray shook his head and folded his arms. "…but I will, okay?"

He suddenly found himself being plowed with a genuine hug, Juvia snuggling into his chest and giggling happily.

"…thank you, Gray-sama. Juvia knows it wasn't easy for you to do, and she appreciates it."

And just like that, she let him be, spreading out her arms as she blissfully skipped away, and Gray almost thought he heard her singing to herself. The guild hall seemed to get a little brighter in that moment, and glancing out the window revealed to Gray that a dark patch of clouds had slid out of the way of the sun almost purposefully.

He stared at the bright afternoon sky with reverie- once, blue skies had made him angry, and he never fully understood why he'd felt that way. It was just that it was _so blue_ and it frustrated him. But knowing that the very same sky could make someone else unconditionally happy for the same reason…

It was a strangely beautiful thing. And in her own way, Juvia was a strangely beautiful person.

Now Gray was musing about his response to Juvia, thinking about the reason why he eventually ended up saying yes. Thanks to Erza, he was afraid to say yes, because he didn't want to instill false hope or empty enthusiasm. But now that he'd got it over with, he was certain that this was something he really did want to do. And who wouldn't, when Juvia's happiness was so freaking contagious?

"Now all I have to do is mentally prep for a night of gushing, smothering, clinginess, potential flooding, and keeping my clothes on," murmured Gray, hanging his head afterward. Wendy just so happened to be walking by, and immediately recoiled when she caught sight of Gray. Carla balked as well and instantly flew up to shield Wendy's eyes.

"Gray, y-your clothes…!" shrieked Wendy, while Carla was shaking her head at him with unparalleled disgust. Gray glanced down super quick to see what was miss- aw _shoot_, he was back in just his boxers!

"Honestly, how barbaric can you be!? Not only are you in public, but there are women and children around! Talk about uncouth…make yourself decent, posthaste!"

Yep, he had a long way to go.


	3. Tempering Iron and Tempting Fate

**All right, I think I've finally got this group right where I want them...was pretty hard to do though, given Levy and Gajeel's circumstances. But hey, the incredulity of it all is why we adore them so. *rubs hands together* I can't _wait_ for their later chapters so I can start making sense outta these two...**

**...what? Nope, I'm not implying anything. *whistles***

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 3: Tempering Iron and Tempting Fate~

Levy McGarden was a sitting contradiction.

A cheek was perched on her soft palm as the opposite hand was occupied with tapping her nails against the table. She was lost in a whole different world as Jet and Droy skirted about her practically in a song and dance. Each of them was boasting loudly about why Levy would so _obviously_ pick one of them over the other. Basically it was the usual routine, but knowing that Levy had one secure spot next to her at a dinner table a few nights away…it was bound to be like picking a partner for the S-Class Trial all over again.

Especially since once again, Gajeel had caught her eye.

The sounds of her fellow members of Shadow Gear merged with the low hum of conversations within the guild, as the solid script mage's absentminded yet undivided attention was locked on the Iron Dragon Slayer marching around like he owned the place, still clearly agitated after the spontaneous showdown with Gray that morning. A soft smile crossed her face as he drifted out of reality and straight into her thoughts.

"I wonder…"

Even the delicate whisper that escaped her lips was delirious on euphoria. Gajeel…he was one of the toughest people Levy knew, with an indomitable will of iron and a rather sharp tongue and personality to match. Levy admired that in its own right, but she was one of the significant few aware of Gajeel's more complex nature, though he never always showed it. All knew how ardent he was about his music –as grating as it was- but Levy knew all about the passion and soul he poured into every word and every note of each song. Levy knew about the soul he harbored deep down beneath the iron bars of his first impressions…

And speaking of first impressions, she still got misty-eyed whenever she thought back to when he first joined the guild. She remembered being torn up inside about what Gajeel had done to her team and the guild as a whole…but there was no way she could stay mad at him forever. Not when he proved that he was genuinely regretful and sorry. Not when she knew he would be subconsciously making up for those abhorrent mistakes for the rest of his life. Not when she realized he was capable of change for the better.

That's how she _knew_ he was a good one. On the outside it was impossible to believe such a little wizard would eventually be drawn to the metal-studded man who beat her and her friends within an inch of their lives and pinned them on that old oak tree as a foreboding _demonstration_ to the world…but time passed, circumstances changed, and life carried on. Levy wanted to carry on with it, and if letting go of what held her back was the way to do it, then it was done. She actually felt a lot better after finally forgiving Gajeel- Levy could tell it was a much heavier weight off his back as well- and she was free to start over. _They_ were free to rebuild their relationship. It was like she'd hit the reset button, walked up to Gajeel, and offered her friendship.

He didn't turn her away, but the start was still exceedingly rocky. Didn't help Levy earned herself a plethora of "little" nicknames, but she'd weather through it if it meant building better bridges with a guild mate.

She never would've expected herself to grow to have such affection for the arrogant jerk, though.

Maybe it was just a side effect from all those times he'd somewhat gallantly saved her. Maybe it was the way he had gradually proven his place in the guild. Maybe it was how he had the things she never would, and she _needed_ that to complete herself.

Levy didn't know why. She didn't need to know why. It just _was_, and that was fine with her. She was willing to dive deeper into it, treating it like an adventure just waiting to be had…and a huge, much worth it treasure waiting along the way.

"…great, now I'm thinking like one of Lu's cheaper romance novels," Levy huffed, blowing a stray strand of hair out her face. Not her fault the reward for her latest job had her thinking in…_affectionate _ways. She figured simple Natsu was planning on going the "just friends" route with things if he was taking anyone at all –but _boy_ was Levy hoping it was Lucy- and she imagined Juvia would attempt to go overboard regarding Gray…

But not Levy. Knowing how Gajeel was, she'd be perfectly fine if he was just sitting next to her like a statue for the whole night. At least then that would show he cared enough to show up…that he cared enough to_ agree_ at that, and with a guy like Gajeel, that in itself was already huge. She wouldn't mind testing things; pushing the envelope just a bit to see what Gajeel thought about progressing things a little, but he would never make her do anything she wouldn't want to, and Levy applied to same to him.

"Oh Gajeel…" she sighed softly, returning her focus back into reality so she could observe the real Gajeel from afar. However, she hadn't even realized that Gajeel had walked away from his brooding spot while she was lost in her memories and musings. She pouted slightly at this, fisting her hands in her lap, but relaxed and glanced around the guild to see where he went…only to find him changed into his suit and fedora, tuning his guitar for an impromptu performance. Levy bit her lip- she was probably the only one in the guild who enjoyed his nightly performances.

…not for the sound, of course, but for how relaxed and at one with himself he seemed to be while he was playing. Such a content look was a rare treat, and Levy had to take it in whenever she could.

It was then that she found Jet and Droy glaring fiercely in her direction; they heard when Gajeel's name departed from her lips, and their previous dispute was all but forgotten in order to unite against the common enemy. Levy could feel herself turning red, as she hadn't meant to let it slip. She suddenly couldn't look at either of her teammates, for she feared what they were going to say next.

"…guess we can quit wasting energy arguing," Droy announced, the tension between him and Jet dropping on the spot and allowing room for a new one between themselves and Levy.

"We should've known ol' iron man would worm his way into this," Jet huffed afterwards.

"Oh, you guys…" winced Levy, hating the rapidly building awkwardness.

She fully understood why those two harbored a grudge for Gajeel and could never resent them for it; not everyone was so willing to forgive and forget like her, as much as she tried to coax them into it for their own sakes'. Not only did they struggle to move past an act that had occurred years ago –and again, for well-justified reason- but they were extra sour because they'd been noticing Levy's growing adoration of the iron-studded man. After the tournament, it was painfully obvious with how she'd look towards Gajeel whenever the two of them battled tooth and nail for her to notice them.

"You're going to ask _him_, aren't you?" Jet inquired with unintended bitterness. Levy jumped at the sting in his tone; the look on Droy's face was set to match. It was killing her to see them torn up like this; not even seven years apart had curbed their hopes that one of them would one day be with her…

"I suppose…we need to talk," Levy finally said. The duo couldn't tell if this was a good or bad thing, but she had their full attention. In an attempt to dispel the ugly mood, Levy brandished her contagious smile as she moved between them, standing on the tips of her toes to drape her arms over their shoulders.

"Listen up," she said boldly, regaining confidence as she went. The cloud of dread hanging over Jet and Droy vanished at the sound of Levy's sunshiny voice. "Remind me, who are we again?"

"Team Shadow Gear!" the duo cheered in full agreement, making Levy beam proudly.

"Exactly! And we've stayed strong no matter what, even when we're separated through space and time! But one thing I don't think even we'd be able to stand up to is if I chose one of you over the other."

Levy let go of the boys and swung herself in front of them, dismounting with her hands on her hips and a slight shrug to her posture.

"Come on, guys. Things would be really weird if I went out with one of you…the team just wouldn't be the same, and I'd hate to make one of you happy at the expense of the other." Her eyes shimmered as she addressed them both with one look, nothing but honestly radiating off her person. "You're both my best friends, and I could never divide us over something like that…so that's why I tend to go for the third option."

She sighed upon finishing her spiel, only to balk when she found the duo grabbing each other for support. Waterfalls of tears cascaded down their faces and _pooled_ on the floor, both of them sniveling and sniffling in the wake of Levy's speech. She closed her eyes and laughed nervously, which only drove their reaction home as they threw themselves at her and pulled her into the group hug. Neither of them wanted to let go.

"OH LEVY!"

"G-guys…!?" Levy gasped, struggling to console them with her little arms. "It wasn't _that _heart-rending, was it?!"

"N-no, no…" Jet was the first to pull away and dry his eyes, with Droy grabbing his shoulder and continuing to sob even harder. "Levy, we know that everything you just said was true, but…but…"

"It's so obvious that you love Gajeel!" Droy practically screamed, although Jet managed to drown out a few decibels with his hands before the whole guild could overhear the proclamation. Levy instantly recoiled as her hands flew to her mouth, feeling her face grow hot against her will.

"W-well I wouldn't, um, go that far…" she stammered, flustered beyond repair. And yet, her reaction only served to cement the truth. Jet and Droy seemed to have accepted this a while back, but Jet couldn't help but shake his head.

"Just…why'd it have to be _him_?"

Irony. That was the very question she'd been pondering herself, and yet she still lacked that solid answer.

"Riddle me this," she whispered quietly, but the duo was hanging on her every word. "…why is it that you like me so?"

Both of them lit up in excitement and started listing off a thousand adjectives and recalled many big things Levy had done during her time as the leader of Shadow Gear. Levy smiled wistfully, touched by how much thought and consideration they put into sorting their feelings for her, but she still pensively shook her head.

"That's just the thing…I can't possibly list all the things that attract me to Gajeel," she continued ambivalently. "Love –the truest love- is limitless…to have a finite number of reasons to care for a person…if one of those reasons was lost, could you still claim to care as much as you once did?"

Jet and Droy stared at her incredulously, but then burst into tears again.

"You're so brilliant, Levy!" sobbed Droy. "You can even make love into something intelligent…!"

Levy blushed and shyly look at her shoes. "Just a little something I read about once…"

Seeing how distraught she was, Jet and Droy ceased their sobbing and exchanged a look, briefly pulling into a huddle and whispering amongst themselves. Levy blinked and tilted her head, trying to catch what was being said, but she had a pretty good idea once they pulled out of it looking absolutely abysmal.

"…you're right, Levy," they both murmured. Levy tried to stop her heart from breaking at the sight of them. "We will always be a team, no matter what…!"

"But, we guess we can't control who you're attracted to," Jet huffed with a sinking expression.

"We just want you to be happy," Droy added.

"So if that means you get a boyfriend that isn't one of us…" They both stood straight and took a bow, Levy only looking on with wide eyes. "…Then we're behind you one hundred percent of the way!"

Levy's smile nearly split her face as she clasped her hands in front of her- heavens, she couldn't ask for a better team! For them to be so willing to support her, despite their own feelings and their opinions on Gajeel…she had to stave off the slowly forming tears, but kept smiling until her face hurt.

"Thanks for understanding you guys; you're the absolute best," she assured, glancing over her shoulder back at Gajeel. "…but I'm not necessarily looking for a boyfriend. I mean, I'd be happy enough if he just agreed to come to dinner with me. I…I doubt I have what he'd be looking for in a girlfriend. Or would that be a mate? He _is_ a dragon slayer…"

Levy seemed to brush off her self-depreciation to solve her random question, but of course her teammates had picked up on it and were quick to reassure her.

"LEVY, if he can't see how awesome you are, he doesn't deserve you!" both of them insisted quickly. Levy blinked with astonishment, but immediately shook her head.

"Oh, no, that's not what I meant. I just…he's so strong, prideful and, um, _distinctive_." Suddenly her shoes became incredibly interesting. "And I'm not that tough, or even tall…maybe us being compatible is just wishful thinking on my part."

"NO, LEVY!"

The gradually forming sadness around Levy was shooed away when Jet and Droy took hold of her, forcing her to stand straight and hold her head high. She was astonished that they'd managed to go from duking it out to working as one…

Levy found herself somehow locking eyes with both of them simultaneously, and they were gravely serious in that one moment.

"You're our leader for a reason. You've dragged us through thick and thin, and you've been through more than both of us combined! The least you can do for yourself is go get your happiness. …please, Levy. As much as it hurts, don't let us hold you back."

"…and if he says no?" Levy asked in a mouse like manner, nervously poking her fingers together. Jet and Droy exchanged a look and winked at her.

"Well, _we'll_ always be here for you, and you can't say you didn't try!"

These words eventually sank in, as Levy's meek demeanor eventually vanished and was replaced with strengthened resolve. Narrowing her eyes, Levy bounced in placed and steeled herself, knowing that she'd need an unwavering will to win Gajeel over.

"You're right! I'm going to do it! I'm going to go ask Gajeel right now, and I won't give up until I'm successful!"

"GO GET 'IM LEVY!" the duo shouted as she marched steadfastly away. However, the next thing they said was far more stern. "…and if he even thinks about harming you again, we _will_ beat him up something awful. Bet on it."

Levy grinned broadly at the sentiment, but couldn't hide the fact that she was sweat dropping- all three of them knew that no member of Shadow Gear could take on Gajeel in a straight up fight.

But one of them was still hoping to take him on a date.

. . .

Gajeel Redfox was on the verge of beginning his nightly recital, his fight with Gray and the announcement from that chaotic morning far removed from his mind. He was currently engrossed with tuning his guitar, as when the inevitable heckling and tomatoes came flying at him, he at least wanted to keep up his rhythm. He didn't care what the others thought about his music- the rest of the guild did stupid stuff all the time! If he wasted his precious days squalling and complaining about what he hated about everyone else, he'd be dead before he finished! That wouldn't stop them from doing it anyway, would it?

Just like how_ he_ would sit on that stage and sing his heart out, pursuing his passion and slicing through the whiny cries of the nay-sayers. Haters were going to hate, after all.

Yet before Gajeel could give birth to his latest single, he noticed a blur of orange out of the corner of his eye. Studded brows furrowed as he focused on the fast-moving tiny object, catching a whiff of its flowery scent…and quickly identified it as Levy. Yeesh, what had her ribbon in a bunch?

More importantly, what was she coming at him so quickly for-?

"_Gajeel_!" she had practically barked, using a tone that wasn't of her normal soft-spoken yet firm variety. She moved and spoke like the world was suddenly on fire, an intense look in her eye…and Gajeel only wondered what the hell she could have possibly wanted. There wasn't a book or anything on her person- where had this suddenly spike of passion erupted from?

"Yeah, shrimp?"

He couldn't get out anything beyond that- Levy had miraculously made it onto the high stage in a single bound, and the way she held her ground and stood proud had thrown Gajeel for a loop. Usually she was so hesitant when speaking to him, as he wasn't the most approachable guy…

…but what had she been eating to suddenly give her such bravado!? The way she posed in front of him, he thought she was about fly right off the stage and out a two-story window with her confidence alone!

"Uh-" was the dragon slayer's attempt at a coherent thought, which was brutally murdered when the far more intelligent Levy opened her mouth.

"I'll make this quick." That was a solid statement, without even a trace of hesitation. "You heard about how I earned a free dinner as a reward, yes?"

Gajeel nodded dumbly, frozen in his seat.

"Well, I wanted to know if you'd like to accompany me, as a small way to show my appreciation for all you've done."

…he had to admit, that was actually a pretty sweet deal, but she wasn't going to win him over that easily. Gajeel leaned an arm over his knee as he studied her carefully, donning a rather thoughtful sneer. This was interesting.

"Ooh, looks like my little bobble head is cutting to the chase! You must _really_ want this."

His grin was sinister when her pale face darkened to red, and her brief gruff demeanor was diminished when she stomped her foot and practically pouted at the teasing. Damn, was she _trying_ to get him to gush over how cute that just was? Maybe he'd slip a little something into his song-

"Gajeel, I'm serious!" she barked, fury blazing in her eyes. "I don't want your smart remarks; I just want a simple and honest answer! And feel free to say no; I'll just have to iron things out with Jet and Droy…"

Levy made her case, and folded her arms, averting her eyes from Gajeel's hard stare. She'd pit everything out on the table, just like that with no resistance, and all that was left to do was wait for Gajeel to pick up what she was putting down.

The Iron Dragon Slayer studied her closely- if there was one things they had a similarity in, it was stubbornness. The determined set to Levy wasn't going to go away, yet Gajeel wasn't exactly about to be broken down by a few measly words and a rigid gaze. The two locked eyes, sparks practically dancing between their pupils, and for whatever reason Gajeel couldn't quit grinning; Levy couldn't stop scowling. It was like they had swapped their normal demeanors completely. Being in Levy's presence made Gajeel do weird things –pat her affectionately on the head, guard her when the going got rough; hell, he even _danced_ with her that one time…

Levy…was just weird. But in the best way possible…?

Gajeel didn't know how to explain it. Damn feelings; he was never good with explaining how he felt, unless he was in the middle of a really cutthroat battle. Then he was happy to implant his life's philosophy onto any sorry sucker- it came gift wrapped with the end of his fists! Of course, never to the annoying extent of Salamander's constant declarations of the sappy power of friendship, but Gajeel got in his moments. Which was probably thanks to Fairy Tail's influence- you'd be shot if you were caught uttering such nonsense up in Phantom Lord. Good thing Juvia was so emotionless back then, he added as a footnote.

But his issue now was not imposing his world views onto everyone. It was something far more daunting…

And that was whether or not to agree to this girl's daunting request.

There were two things Gajeel had a soft spot for- his music, and adorable things. Cats and Levy encompassed that second slot, as much as he hated to admit it. He was the last person looking for any sort of lovey-dovey relationship –the mere thought of unbound close contact and constant display of affection nearly made him hack up nails- but there was a certain something when it came to Levy. She was so _compact_, and compared to him, she was like a really tiny doll that needed to be under constant guard, hence why he subconsciously found himself at her side whenever things were starting to get intense. Seriously, something that cute needed to be protected at all costs. He knew she was strong in her own right, but she was so fragile all the same. Tenrou had been a perfect example of that.

They did chat from time to time, despite the fact they virtually had nothing in common. And yet, Levy insisted that she enjoyed listening to his "tough and tumble tales", and in return she provided him with advice and ideas for music. A subtle symbiosis, and quite the quirky friendship, but Gajeel never really had a reason to try and push it beyond that anyway, nor had he picked up on any signals from Levy. He assumed they were solid in the little affiliation they had come to build…

So_ certainly_ that's not what she after right now, was it?

"…you really want this, huh short stack?"

Levy's doe eyes met with his fierce red ones. She was trying to keep up her fierce façade, but bit by bit it was chipping away as Gajeel kept her dangling in suspense and chipping away her hope…she just wanted some company for that damn reward, yeah? And to her credit, at least she came to him first instead of those brainless lapdogs she paled around with…

If Gajeel cared –which he "so didn't"- he'd be somewhat flattered.

Frankly, if Gajeel had to be cooped up in an overly fancy restaurant stuck in gaudy clothes and forced to act decent in public…Levy wouldn't be that bad of a choice to do so with.

And that's when he made the cataclysmic choice to say yes against his better judgment, simply because he felt that going on this bloody outing wouldn't make any difference in the long run.

"Yeah, fine, whatever. Just stop bugging me- I'm in the middle of trying to tune my guitar." Gajeel didn't even make eye contact as his large fingers fumbled with the delicate tuning of said instrument. A few hours and free food wouldn't kill a guy, and Levy wasn't Juvia, seeking a proposal with her dessert and whatnot. Levy was sensible. She was attuned to her surroundings, smart, forgiving, and compassionate-

…The_ hell_? Where'd all THAT come from? Tch.

Seeing as she was still there, and therefore making it extremely hard for Gajeel to take his mind off her after being assailed with her good qualities as further justification for his unexpected answer, he kept looking away, not wanting to give her any ideas.

"…I'm only goin' cuz you looked so eager," Gajeel grunted. "Only a heartless bastard would turn down that face."

"Gajeel!" Levy teased, although she sounded more surprised and pleased than anything. "Are you conceding that you actually _do_ have a heart?"

"I ain't no freaking monster! I just- ugh-_no_. Keep in mind that this is not a date." He rose in order to use his imposing height to his advantage, but the confident set of Levy's shoulders gave away the fact she wasn't the least bit intimidated.

She couldn't be, since she just had the guts to _ask him out_. And that only riled him up more.

"I mean it. Don't read into this."

"Too bad reading's what I do best!" Levy practically sang in retaliation, obviously elated but having way too much fun stringing it over Gajeel's head. But she was satisfied, sprinkling the finer details of the outing into her parting words as she jumped off the stage and leaving him be as he asked.

Just like that, something had just happened.

What the actual hell?! Levy barely tried at all and he'd _caved_! …For perfectly legitimate reasons, _but he caved_! How'd that even happen?!

Then he heard snickering.

Oooh, how he wanted to whirl around and deck the loser who had the nerve to even a drop a chuckle at his expense with an iron fist and really give them something to laugh about. But he couldn't.

For the one subtly laughing himself stupid was Pantherlily, and Gajeel worked too damn hard to get that cat to beat him to a bloody pulp now.

"And what's so funny, furball?" Gajeel sneered at his Exceed who was enjoying this _far_ too much. How long had he even been watching?! Little creep.

"Just the fact that you agreed to a date with Levy with next to no hesitation. I mean, it's obvious that you care for her but I would have never-"

"Oi, what nonsense are YOU spouting?! Nothing's 'obvious', and if ya were eavesdropping_ properly_, ya'd know that this ain't a date!" Gajeel hastily cut him off right there. "Ya heard her; she just wants me to fill the slot for that reward she earned. S'all there is to it- not like I actually have to do anything other than go."

"Not from what I heard," Lily murmured, only to quickly find himself scooped up in Gajeel's huge hands, whisked off the stage, and straight into the back area, where thankfully no one else was loitering about. The collective lot of them were too busy rejoicing Gajeel's departure from the stage, and he hadn't even started singing yet.

Tch, screw them…!

Meanwhile, the cat found himself pinned against the wall with only one hand…and Gajeel's snarling face as well.

"Spill whatever yer hiding right now! Ya know I've got my ways to make people talk…"

"I don't know if I should," Lily deadpanned, enabling a growl to build up in Gajeel's throat. "I mean, that IS what I came here to tell you, but all this manhandling isn't really getting you any favors-"

"_Lily_!"

Lily cocked an eyebrow at the dragon slayer; sighing, Gajeel removed him from the wall, and Lily bounced to the top of a crate to be level with Gajeel and promptly folded his arms.

"Thank you. Now, I overheard that Cana did a fortune reading this morning. Apparently six members of the guild…" Gajeel's eyes narrowed when Lily paused, as a smirk was fighting to etch on his face and Gajeel knew that nothing good could come from that. "…well, apparently six people are going to, and I quote, 'get together'."

Gajeel blinked dumbly before letting out a hearty guffaw and slapping Pantherlily hard on the back. Lily went sailing to the floor and only managed to stop himself by spreading his wings at the last second.

"Oh, THAT'S all? You almost had me concerned for a moment!" Gajeel quickly calmed himself down as he took a seat on a different crate. "You really plan on believing whatever hocus pocus she conjured up? She probably just said all that to get something started around here, knowing these gossip-hungry snobs! Tch, you could get better credibility from a fortune cookie!"

"Okay, that's a_ lie_, because Cana's readings have proven to be plenty useful in the past," Lily defended, but kept going with his point. "Yet more importantly, I really think it's going to come true. Just consider this dinner reward- three people, and three dates…that's six hearts right there."

"It's not a date! And it's _not_ six hearts," Gajeel grunted stubbornly. He could tell Lily was about to pull a wisecrack about simple math so he hastily continued. "Even with me and the midget, and Juvia and the human popsicle, there's no way Salamander's love life is going anywhere! He's the only one of that trio without his plus one still! Gihihihihi!"

Lily's ears drooped wearily as Gajeel worked himself into a laughing fit. The Exceed could frankly care less about whatever was going down with Salamander –he'd left the guild at some point with Happy in tow- because if his hunch was correct, then _Gajeel_ really was involved with the prediction. While the Iron Dragon Slayer rarely voiced anything other than anger, sarcasm, and a hunger for steel, there was a certain something about him whenever it came to Levy. Lily wouldn't be bold and pinpoint it as love or anything, but it was hard not to think that his friend's iron interior had even the slightest soft for the solid script mage. Lily was honestly just curious to see if a potential relationship really could go somewhere…

…and he really wanted to be there with a camera the second Gajeel was placed into some romantically awkward situation.

"No one in their right mind would be willing to bite that bullet." Lily snapped back to attention as Gajeel continued to entertain himself with how unlikely Salamander was to get a "date", all while ignoring his own situation. "Heh, maybe he'll dress up Happy as a girl to make himself feel better-"

"I think he'll be fine, all things considered," Pantherlily interrupted before the spiel could get out of control. "But don't you think you should be taking your own plans more seriously?"

"Don't you worry about me- I'll show up and entertain Shrimp," Gajeel assured with an aloof wave. "But if you're still on about that bogus prediction, I can easily disprove that, and do you want to know why?"

"_Why_?"

"Because that prediction, if your gut feeling's right, would also apply to me…"

Gajeel rose from his seat and began to saunter back onto the stage, sending a fierce and certain grin over his shoulder.

"But I already told you, it's_ not_ a real date!"

Pantherlily didn't fail to hear him mulling over what he was going to be wearing that night, however.


	4. Stoke the Fires While They're Hot

**Sup guys! Just wanted to give a quick thanks for the rapid response this story has gotten! The Fairy Tail section has a lot of romance stories already, so...it's been a little intimidating, but always fun. ^^**

**(Lucy's part next time because the chapter grew too long)**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 4: Stoke the Fires While They're Hot~

When the next morning rolled around, Natsu vowed to make the most of it –like he did everyday- but only because tomorrow hinged on what was to occur today.

Unlike Juvia and Levy, he didn't rush into securing his plus one. He'd been so unsure of it yesterday that he needed to sleep on it, but now that a new day was here, he was ready to tackle whatever he needed to. All it took was a good night's rest to dispel his worries about asking Lucy, as she'd always came through for him in the past and he felt something as trivial as this shouldn't be any different.

Happy could barely keep up with him as he ran about his room like a child on Christmas, hastily gathering up his outfit with a grin that took up half his head. Natsu practically jumped into his pants and sandals, slid into his one-sleeved long coat, and _spun_ into his dragon-scale scarf, grinning from ear to ear like any other day, and yet this grin had a specific reason behind it. The cat had to stand on a table just to avoid getting gleefully trampled on, and he was getting really freaked out when Natsu double-checked his hairstyle- since when did he care about appearances?!

"Come on Happy- don't forget to lock up!" Natsu blared, tearing for the front door like an untamed storm.

"A-aye sir?!"

Happy was _so_ confused, but spread his wings and followed after Natsu without question. Once he made sure the door was secure, he…spun around and found Natsu already halfway down the street and blazing a trail of smoke behind him.

"WAAAAAAAH NATSU! DON'T FORGET MEEE!"

Happy flew as fast as his magic would allow, managing to catch up with Natsu _just barely_. The dragon slayer was charging forward like a train without brakes, and it was completely beyond Happy to figure out what had him going so early.

"Sheesh Natsu, didja win the lottery or something? Or maybe I forgot your birthday…?" Happy pondered, trying to figure out what had his best friend so pumped up. After all, their free meal wasn't until tomorrow, so it couldn't be that! "…Are you feeling all right?"

"Never better!" Natsu exclaimed, tossing Happy a thumbs up. "Don't_ you_ ever wake up with a really good feeling in the pit of your stomach?"

"My tummy only feels that way when there's a fish in it," Happy insisted. Natsu quickly realized that Happy probably wasn't going to be able to empathize with his inexplicably happy mood –oh the irony- so he continued to barrel down the road with his usual gung ho, eager to get to the guild already. He could hear Happy complaining about moving so fast when it was so early, but eagerness never rests, which meant neither did Natsu!

"I hope you run twice as fast when we get our meal tomorrow," Happy muttered as he glided over Natsu's shoulder. "That way you can build up a proper appetite!"

"Yeah, yeah," Natsu dismissed, his mind clearly preoccupied with other things. "You just be glad you're a cat because then you'd be taking up my plus one slot and not Lucy-"

"OOOOOOOH!"

Natsu suddenly felt himself being lifted off the ground; he looked quite ridiculous fidgeting about in the air while a flying blue cat had him dangling by the collar.

"What the-?! Happy, let me go! We have to get to the guild _now_!"

"No sir!" Happy insisted, which caught Natsu off guard right away. "Not until you tell me what has you so high-strung! More than usual! And what it has to do with Lucy!"

"Well if you _have_ to know, I was planning on asking Lucy to be my date-thing to that outing…thing," Natsu explained lamely, although hearing himself say it out loud made himself feel even lamer. He normally steered clear of these sorts of situations because he never got around to understanding how they worked, let alone comprehending the terminology.

He had no idea what he was getting into, but if it would possibly make Lucy happy, he was willing to dive into it head first. Hence why he wasn't expecting Happy to react in the way he did.

"Oooh, I get it now," Happy practically sang. "You're so giddy because you liiiiiiiiike her~!"

"What? Duh I like her. I wouldn't be giving a person I hate a ticket to a free meal." Natsu blurted obviously, but Happy shook his head.

"No, I mean you reaaally _liiiiiike _her~!"

"I-" Natsu admittedly missed a beat and drew a blank. "…Isn't that the sorta thing you tease Lucy about?"

"Yeah, but it's not as fun anymore cuz she doesn't react as much. I never get to tease _you_ about things like this though, hee hee!"

Next thing he knew the flying Exceed was screaming so the whole city could hear him.

"Natsu likes Lucy! NATSU LIKES LUCY-!"

"What the _hell_, man?! Don't spread that! Shut up –STOP IT!"

Natsu wrestled to get out of Happy's grip while still airborne, which only caused Happy to start flying crooked and lose control of himself. The two wailed as they grappled with each other and ricocheted uncontrollably through the air, nearly hitting several pedestrians during their descent.

"_Happy_-!"

"Don't blame me! This is your fault!"

"_You're_ the one that grabbed me-"

"You were grabbing AT me-!"

"Because you were broadcasting my business all over Magnolia-!"

"Then it's true huh-!?"

"I didn't say that at all-!"

"AAAAAAACK!"

They just so happened to crash through the doors of the guild, Happy releasing Natsu as soon as they made impact. Both of them gaped in agony when they flew off in different directions- Happy sailed straight into an empty barrel, while Natsu landed flat on his face and ended up skidding along the floor. They had caused a huge ruckus and a lot of noise, but received little else than a few glowers and a deadpanned "Oh, _Natsu_ must be here…"

"Uuuuuugh…" Natsu moaned, picking himself up and scouting around. Thankfully Gray, Erza, and Gajeel weren't around to see that one… Once he was back on his feet, he darted over to rescue Happy from the bottom of the barrel, where the poor Exceed's eyes were nothing but black swirls at this point.

"Happy."

"Uwaaah…yeah Natsu?"

"Why don't_ you _go see what Carla's up to this morning?"

"A…aye sir…"

Natsu plopped Happy back to the ground, with Happy receiving the hint and trotting off to find his own crush. After making sure Happy wasn't going to interfere anymore, Natsu took a deep breath and calmed himself down. With his confident and zealousness returned, it was time to get down to business.

He stuck his nose into the air, and a few seconds later Natsu had already picked up on Lucy's unique scent–a fluffy fusion of strawberries and vanilla. Needless to say, he knew she was there somewhere, but just in case he felt the need to ask. Just to be sure.

"Morning! Is Lucy around?" he asked Mirajane easily enough, figuring that she wouldn't think much of it. His instinct was correct, as her whole face lit up when she gestured to the request board. Natsu followed her movement, and a goofy grin wormed on his face when he found Lucy. She was so engrossed with the request board that she didn't notice him at all! Sheesh, it wasn't _that_ interesting. What a weirdo.

Still, he strolled up to her loudly enough to announce his presence, but not enough to break her concentration.

"Mornin' Luce! I've got something to ask ya!" Natsu greeted her right away with an enthusiastic wave. "What's got you so glued to the job postings?"

"I was just looking for a good solo mission," she said simply enough, even plucking a request off to get a closer look. Natsu blinked and looked over her shoulder; she gave him a pout and tugged the paper out of his line of sight.

"Well you don't have to go alone," Natsu assured, folding his arms. "As long as it's a quick mission that's not too far, Happy and I wouldn't mind-"

"N-no, I'd…rather go by myself. Or at least with someone else this time," Lucy stated. Natsu made a rather unnecessary face that Lucy countered with a fierce look of her own. "Hey, don't give me that! You went off with Levy and Juvia, of all combinations! I'm free to change it up a little too, you know."

"Well _yeah_, but that was a specific request, and I wasn't going to turn the guy down," Natsu huffed. "And you normally hate solo missions! I mean, you always try to tag along on mine! Why the sudden interest now?"

Natsu really didn't like the way her face fell afterwards; it was almost like she was about to cry, and he hated seeing anyone on that brink of despair. Especially Lucy. She'd been sad way too many times in her life already, and if there was ever anything he could do to prevent another breakdown, hell yes he was going to do it.

"…Lucy, what's wrong? Do you need extra cash for something? Is it the rent again?"

Lucy hastily shook her head, and Natsu might have been seeing things, but her face looked red. Was she crying already…?

"No, nothing like that," she sighed, grabbing at her arms. "I just heard some things yesterday, and I was looking for a job to take my mind off it, that's all."

"What _things_?" Natsu immediately went on the defensive, narrowing his eyes and igniting his hands. "Was someone being mean to you? Just give me a name, Luce; I'll hunt 'em down and give 'em a roasting they'll never-!"

"C-calm down, no one was being mean," Lucy chuckled, and while Natsu failed to see what was so humorous –he was absolutely dead serious- he was glad that he'd managed to elicit a smile. She still wouldn't look at him though. "…Cana was doing a fortune reading for the guild yesterday, and now it's completely blowing up. Erza's trying to get to the bottom of it all, Mira's acting like she's placing bets behind the scenes, and even Lily was getting in on it-!"

"Wait, huh?" Natsu blinked dumbly. "Sheesh, what did Cana predict? If it was something important, it wouldn't be floating around as mere gossip, and I definitely would've heard about it…"

And yet whatever it was, it was really bothering Lucy. She wasn't teary-eyed again, but Natsu had caught the brief grimace that crossed her face.

"…so what was it?" Natsu pried, which only made Lucy bite her lip and avert her gaze completely. What little he could see of her face was a touch pink now, and now he couldn't even begin to fathom was insanity Cana had conjured up.

"I…you…well, maybe it's better if you ask someone else. I'm sure they'd be happy to tell you."

Natsu tilted his head and studied her as best he could- what the heck?

"But why aren't_ you_ happy to tell me?"

Lucy winced and quickly became dismissive, trying to claim that it wasn't even anything worth mentioning. Natsu glared at her because that was a painfully obvious lie, and now it was bothering _him_ because he wanted to help and she was keeping secrets.

"I want to hear it from you. Obviously whatever it is it's eating away at you."

The longer she refused to answer, the more her problem became _his _problem. If she was hesitant, that meant it had something to do with him somehow… Natsu tried to rack his brain for anything he did wrong –heck, he hadn't even asked her his question yet!- but eventually she grabbed his wrist and gave him a weak smile.

"I'm probably making a big deal over nothing; once I tell you you're going to think I'm stupid."

"Well-"

"Don't answer that," she deadpanned, and Natsu shot her an innocent grin afterwards. She softened up and shook her head, then stared off into the distance. "Anyway, Cana's prediction was sort of…love-related, and, um…it's possible…you're involved. Six people were said…to have some romance coming their way…"

Natsu hadn't mean to sigh so deeply in relief; Lucy gave him a bewildered look afterwards.

"Ah, sorry? But man, Lucy! I thought Cana predicted a death with how you were acting!"

"Sorry, sorry!" Lucy sputtered, waving her hands in front of her. "But it's just so _crazy_…"

She was laughing now- a nervous cackle that was incredibly out of sync with the look on her face. Natsu was wondering if this was really Lucy in front of him, because she was seriously out of whack right now…and only then did he notice she was still gripping his wrist.

"It's crazy, because it can't be true…!" Her chocolate eyes had locked with his. "I mean, as far as I know, you've never even been interested in the idea of love!"

That…had been true. Being raised by a dragon had admitted stunted him in the way of social growth, but he definitely understood the importance of family and friends. It was just anything beyond that point that baffled him.

Then Lucy happened. They met in the most happenstance way, and they had bonded over food and a love for Fairy Tail. That alone would net anyone a solid place among Natsu's nakama, but he'd also never known anyone like Lucy. Gray was gruff but cared, Erza was scary but loyal, Wendy was always doing her best to help others, and Lisanna was so pure-hearted. _Lucy_ managed to be all of that at the same time and more; her heart was wide enough to house everyone in Fairy Tail, and yet it stumped him as to how she was still looking for someone to spend the rest of her life with. The love she already had…was it not enough? She never actively pursued a boyfriend or anything, but with how often she noted the little things about what she wanted in a romance, Natsu had a rather solid idea of what her type was.

And it certainly wasn't him.

All he wanted to do right now was show her that he alone liked her a lot- and maybe that would somehow get her to see that she didn't need anything beyond what she already had.

"But enough about that; I don't want to ruin your day with my pessimism." Lucy's voice pulled Natsu out of his remarkably deep thoughts, barely registering her words. "You said you had something you wanted to ask me…? I hope all that Cana nonsense didn't make you forget."

"Oh yeah, I…" Natsu shook off his grogginess and gave a lopsided smile. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to be my date when I go out to dinner tomorrow."

Mistaaaaaake.

Whether it was the way he worded it or some unforeseen implications of the question, Lucy_ flared_ an abashed shade of red. Natsu admittedly shuffled away, for he had never seen such a reaction from her. If Natsu didn't know better, she almost seemed scared! What had he done?!

"W-why me?!" she squeaked. Natsu balked as his whole posture sank.

"What? Why _not_ you?! You're my best friend! I thought you liked doing things like this?"

"I-I-I mean, I suppose normally." Lucy's eyes darted about erratically, trying to look anywhere and everywhere but at Natsu. "But…um…it's a little risky right now. I can't…I shouldn't…not with…you…tomorrow…not tomorrow…"

Lucy could see the disappointment take over Natsu- he just stood there motionlessly, unsure of how to react and unsure of if he even wanted to react at all. He'd been expecting a straight up yes or no, not this…stutter fest. And now he felt bad because he assumed that he made Lucy act this way.

"Natsu, no wait, this is all on me; I'm sorry…" Lucy stammered, shaking her head. "I...just give me a little time to think! It's not a _no_ to your invitation, but I...I can't make a proper call with my mind like this."

"…okay."

It was soft and conceding, and sounded somewhat defeated, but Natsu had still managed to smile despite how rapidly bad things turned out to be. Lucy, quivering beyond control, covered her mouth and hastily scrambled away. She left a gust of wind in her wake that blew Natsu's coat back and left him standing there speechlessly. All his unbridled excitement from earlier was pretty much extinct now.

"I…feel weird," he murmured, not sure what to think about any of this but knowing it wasn't anything good. He hadn't been expecting a reaction like that all; at worst, maybe she'd brush him off with some lame excuse, but he would have been easily able to get over something like that. But that display…there was just something really wrong and he felt super-uncomfortable about it.

Natsu figured he'd better leave Lucy alone for a while, but now he didn't know what to do with himself. She was going to be on his mind for the rest of the day now, and he'd be damned if he didn't get to the bottom of what had made her feel that way. He partially blamed himself for asking _that question_ at the wrong place and time when he really hadn't meant any harm…but then his eyes fell on a rectangular object, lying flat on the ground not too far away.

It was the six of hearts Cana had carelessly discarded the morning before, left untouched after its trip through the air.

Cards…cards…cards…_Cana_.

As if he was suddenly operating on primal instincts, Natsu plunged to the ground and pilfered the card, getting a whiff of its scent and snarling intensely- the smell of Cana's favorite wine was thickly laced on the innocent little card, as if burning his next move into his mind.

"_Cana's prediction was sort of…love-related, and, um…it's possible…you're involved. Six people were said…to have some romance coming their way…"_

Natsu's intense glare bore holes into those six little red hearts decorated on the card, and he swore they were taunting him. The red on white like that was nearly making him nauseous, like the world was spinning…like he was on a train going in endless circles…

"_It's crazy, because it can't be true…!"_

Was it really that far-fetched?

"_I mean, as far as I know, you've never even been interested in the idea of love!"_

No, he hadn't been. He still wasn't sure if he was now.

But thanks to one person, anything that might've possibly been was all screwed up now.

. . .

Despite it being early, Cana had already drank herself tipsy, giggling and laughing at the group surrounding her. A large keg of Fairy Tail's finest wine had a reserved spot at her side –Cana's absolute favorite- and it sat perfectly still, waiting patiently for its turn while Cana finished off a bottle of booze.

"Come on, Cana- we want to update our bets!" exclaimed Macao. "Let us in on who you predicted already!"

"Waaaah, but what if I don't wanna?" winced the rose-faced alcoholic, widening her eyes in order to plead better. Wakaba gnawed his cigar and gave Cana a long look.

"Well next time don't just tease us with some vague fortune and give us some straight answers!"

"Don't blame me," Cana pouted, swirling the remaining contents around in her bottle. "The cards merely spoke to me…and I gave them a voice. Not my fault that they didn't tell me much."

Despite the bitter way her sentence ended, there was now a buoyant glint to her eye, and she quickly scooped up her deck of cards and started shuffling them with some complicated pattern.

"In fact…now that it's a new day, I should be able to get a clearer prediction…!"

Macao, Wakaba, Laki, Max, naturally Mirajane, and anyone else that happened to be gathered instantly scooted closer to get in on this. A magic circle covered the whole table as Cana laid out her cards at a rapid speed, looking greedily eager for the results…along with Macao who was rubbing his hands together.

"Let's go! Time to see if my investment in Elfman and Evergreen was worth it…!"

"Ugh! You _pig_!" Evergreen snapped from a distant table with Freed and Bickslow, while Elfman butted in with an obligatory comment on the behavior of "real men".

"Shut up and let the woman work!" barked Wakaba.

Cana's hands were practically on fire with how she was spinning, twirling, and splaying out her tarot cards. Each one that went unused ended up in an outer frame, and some would say that it resembled the shape of a heart. Cana was absolutely devious when she placed six particular cards face down right in the middle, then three more; one beside each pair. The whole table was about to burst with anticipation, Mirajane most of all.

"Ooh, I'm so excited! I actually get to watch the magic happen this time!" she exclaimed giddily.

When Cana was finally finished, the magic circle faded away, and she cracked her fingers like she was prepping to play a piano.

"All right baby, let's see what the cards say today!" she sang, reaching for the first pair of cards. "And our first pair iiiiiis…Juvia and Gray!"

"Whatever, that's old news," scoffed Max as a few others voiced their disappointment. "We already learned that they were going on that date earlier thanks to Erza."

"Yeah, but we're about to find out what'll go down on their date…!" Cana hummed, plucking the third card from the row. "…ooh, the arcana of Strength! Not surprising…"

"What's that mean, exactly?" Laki inquired. Cana waved the card around and clicked her tongue.

"Mmm, with how the cards ended up displayed, there's two meanings- in the context of 'romance' and 'relationship', one member of the pair will go through some serious patience, courage, and compassion…while the other one will demonstrate self-doubt and weakness."

This left a heavy cloud of curiosity over the group's heads, but this quickly dispelled when Cana flipped over the next pair- Gajeel and Levy. Whoops and hollers rang out like someone just won a championship.

"Ha HA!" cackled Wakaba, getting into Macao's face. "I told you those two had something going on! I'm now two thousand jewels richer!"

"Keep your shirt on; I'll be getting way more than that when it turns out Elfman and Evergreen are the final pair," Macao shot back. Evergreen rose from her table and threatened to turn him to stone- if her teammates hadn't jumped up to hold her back.

"Don't get ahead of yourself; there's still the third card…" Cana murmured as she grabbed the tarot in question and gave it a flip. "…oh."

The arcana of Death.

"Oh my!" gasped Mirajane while the others immediately winced and scouted around for Levy or Gajeel.

"O-one of them's going to _die_?!" yelped Max. "What kind of a date _is_ that?!"

"A pretty hardcore one by the sounds of it," muttered Macao to the distain of Laki.

"No one's dying; _relax_," Cana snapped. "The death arcana is a symbol of new beginnings, transitions, and transformations…and yet that only applies to one of them. The other one will experience a resistance to change, and an inability to move on…"

"Whoa," breathed Mirajane after collecting herself. "That's quite impressive, Cana, especially since I remember you picked up these skills really quickly!"

"Thanks, but I think I predict better when I'm buzzed," she giggled, taking that as her cue to suck the rest of her booze bottle dry. "Aaaaaahh…! Now, let's see what the third couple will be in for-"

Macao complained about Cana deliberately not turning the couple over first, but became curious when a sun was revealed. Cana gave a lopsided smile.

"One has some fun and success coming their way…" Cana began, but then she frowned. "…yet the other will experience temporary depression."

Everyone pondered over this quietly.

"Sounds like their little romance will go well for one but not for the other? That's kinda weird," murmured Wakaba. "Reveal the pair- maybe that'll answer some questions."

Cana nodded and reached for the first card.

"Come oooon, Elfman and Evergreen!" "I said knock it off already!" "Wendy and Romeo!" "Keep my son out of this!" "Mirajane and Laxus…!" "H-huh, where did you get THAT idea…?!" "Bisca and Alzack!" "They're already_ together_, idiot!"

Everyone collectively shut up once Cana finally turned the card over…and then their voices rose in a single chorus.

"…LUCY!?"

Now several of the men were flocking over to investigate, although now Wakaba was back to boasting in front Macao. Mirajane got ridiculously excited, Evergreen was just glad it wasn't her, and a few lingering ladies were somewhat jealous. Regardless, now everyone was waiting in anticipation to figure out who Lucy's match was, and frankly Cana was interested herself.

And then the wine in her barrel started to ripple; slowly, and then all at once.

Cana's hand froze as her fingertips brushed against the top of the last face down card, her skin crawling as the temperature in the entire guild rose. She felt like something was coming up from behind her, and it must have been the case, as everyone else was gaping at something over her shoulder.

"RAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"

There was the horrific clatter of chairs being hurling across the room and the snapping of at least two tables, which was more than enough to send the pack of people running like the world was about to end. Cana didn't dare look behind her as she sprang out of her seat and lifted her hands.

"All cards, salvage to my hand!"

The remainder of her fortune was left to be a mystery as all of her cards collected into her palm in a neat deck. At this point she could have probably made a full escape, except she couldn't leave her precious barrel of wine behind-

And thus ended up being tackled by a flaming Natsu Dragneel with an absolutely _demonic_ look on his face.

"What did you do?!" Natsu snarled, only managing to trap her in the corner. He would have loved to grab her by the collar of her shirt and pin her to the wall like that…except shirts were among rarities when it came to Cana's wardrobe. So this would have to do.

"Jeez Natsu, what crawled up yours?" she sneered defiantly. Natsu's fangs seemed extra sharp as he whipped out the six of hearts and practically pressed it to her face.

"What did you _do_?!" he repeated again, only with higher levels of adrenaline. Cana kept a scowl on her face as she had no idea what this raving lunatic was talking about, although she was legitimately scared. This wasn't "I'm just looking to pick a fight" Natsu. This was "You've pissed me off and I'll tear something to shreds" Natsu.

He roared and tossed the fragile six of hearts behind him with deadly accuracy; it sliced cleanly through the row of Cana's empty whiskey bottles, the top halves sliding off and clattering to the floor. Cana's pupils shrunk as she dared to look at Natsu's straight on- hot air puffed angrily out his nose.

Cana was drunk on alcohol; Natsu was drunk on pure rage.

"Yesterday I heard you were messing with people lives, and now today I find you doing it again!"

"First, I wasn't _messing_ with anything- I was doing fortunes, nothing out of the ordinary," Cana huffed in her defense. "It was just a little harmless fun, whether they're true or not."

Cana spontaneously found herself shoved rougher into the corner.

"Harmless fun?! Whatever you said yesterday has Lucy completely torn up!" Natsu snapped. "Is putting your friend through needless turmoil _nothing out of the ordinary_?!"

"Whoa, okay, I don't know what Lucy heard, but I didn't even learn she was involved with anything until _today_," Cana stated, putting her hands up. "I don't know what would get her so worked up; I've done fortunes for her before and she's never wigged out."

"She wasn't worried about what the fortune said about her." Natsu trembled slightly, but the glare in his expression increased. "…she cared about what it said about _me_."

Cana's eyes widened slightly, like something had hit her, but instead she pressed her lips together and returned the glower.

"Well hothead, whatever Lucy came up with yesterday was just mere speculation- whether or not you're involved will remain a mystery, because you interrupted me before I could find out!"

"What are you talking about?!"

Cana rolled her eyes- this idiot was impossible.

"I mean, yesterday I only predicted that six people would be caught up in romance, nothing more. Today I was trying to find out just who those people were!" Little by little, the rage started melting from Natsu. "Turns out Lucy is involved, but thanks to you I have no idea who she's matched up with!"

Cana dropped to the ground as Natsu's hold on her relented; she gasped out of relief and turned her head up to face Natsu. He wasn't billowing in fire anymore, nor did he look out for blood, but there was still a hard edge to his expression. She grunted and pushed herself to her knees, almost afraid to move. She was certain Natsu wasn't going to hurt her, but the last thing she wanted was to set him off even more.

"…well thanks to your little stunt, Lucy is really bothered and acting completely unlike herself. You've ruined a potentially fun night with my best friend, and there's nothing I can do to fix it, because you made her think there was something more to it!"

"And there wasn't?"

Cana's gaze cast over Natsu as he gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists. He was absolutely beside himself, but he still managed to mangle out some words.

"…there might've been, but I doubt I'll find out now. Lucy's so brainwashed by that prediction; that one little fortune…!"

Furiously, he slammed his fist into the wall, leaving quite the sizeable –and somewhat scorched- dent.

"With all that needless junk up in the air, she's not going to take any chances. She's not going to say yes to me."

Cana bit her lip and juddered with regret; finally, she was starting to see just what she had done…

"…I'm sorry, Natsu. I didn't intend for any of this. Honestly."

"…I know that." Natsu took a deep breath and eventually slumped his shoulders. "Look, don't worry about it. I'll get over it…"

Cana shakily stood back up –she was now somewhat regretting that last bottle- and used the wall to support herself. She watched as Natsu simply walked away, barely blinking an eye at the destruction he had caused in his wake. Already people were dragging out replacement tables and up-righting the chairs; none seemed to know _what_ had Natsu so worked up, save Cana.

"Oh _man_; not even I could've seen that coming," she sighed, giving up on standing up after all that and sliding to the floor. "It's not like I went out of my way to delve into people's love lives. The cards just spoke to me…"

Her eyes drifted along the floor, gaze landing on the forcefully handled six of hearts. With a sinking feeling in her stomach and her head hanging low, she plucked it off the floor, stared at it, then held it close to her own heart.

"The cards spoke to me, and they simply told me what they needed to."


	5. Nothing, and Everything All at Once

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 4.5: Nothing, and Everything All at Once~

Afternoon still had yet to hit as Lucy meandered around outside the guild. The sun was refreshing and the wind was warm, but both had done little to calm her nerves. She had smuggled herself out the back entrance to avoid drawing up too much attention, and now she was sitting up on the hill under the tree, alone with her thoughts as the rest of the world happened around her. Lucy liked watching the people come and go, as it really put her own issues into perspective…and yet there seemed to be an abundance of couples lingering about that day.

Of course.

Groaning, Lucy let herself fall backwards, the grass tickling her wherever skin was exposed. She now had a nice view of the sky, and she was almost envious of the wisps of cloud above. They were far less turbulent than she was feeling on the inside. Sighing, she closed her eyes and tried to confront herself with the proverbial elephant on the room.

"I can't go…" she murmured, softly shaking her head. "Not with Cana's fortune on the table…!"

Any other time, it would have been an easy agreement. Sure, Natsu wasn't the most eloquent person to eat with, nor was he the top option for an intellectual conversation. But when they had some down time and sat down for lunch, there was never a dull moment with him. Whether it be him enthusiastically talking about a good fight, being a source of comedy, or going so far as to burst out dancing on the table with Happy, Lucy couldn't stop groaning, yet it was always with a grin.

She was smiling to herself right now as the memories replayed, but she shook her head again and the smile weakened.

Maybe there was nothing to worry about. After all, back when Cana predicted a "fateful encounter" for her, not much had come from it from what Lucy experienced. Maybe this was just like that.

…except this wasn't just about one person. There were _six _in the crosshairs of providence, and the excuse of a "coincidence" Lucy had held onto so desperately vanished once she arrived at the guild that morning. Juvia managed to snag Gray as a date, miracles being miracles, and Levy somehow talked Gajeel into it as well. Both girls being close friends to Lucy, she was more than aware of how dedicated they were to those particular guys. It had been love at first sight with Juvia, and while Levy never outright admitted anything, it was clear she was very fond of the Iron Dragon Slayer. No doubt the two of them would use their reward to their advantage.

…was Natsu planning the same?

"_I think you and Natsu would make a great couple!"_

Mirajane had just been teasing when she said that ages and ages ago –she had stated similar things about Gray and Loke- but once the one-sided misunderstandings with Natsu had been cleared up, it had still taken days for Lucy to look at him the same way again. Every friendly gesture, every word spoken, every look from Natsu was suddenly ladled with heavy implications and further meanings. It was like being in the same room romantically charged everything! Even after she finally readjusted, some of the things Natsu did had her wondering about how he really felt…but then he'd be so _oblivious_ to the unintentional cues he gave off that that she doubted any of it was on purpose. She'd perused through too many romance novels; he was just an excellent friend and she was reading too deep into his actions.

…so she should have known better! Natsu probably really did just choose her because of their friendship, and it probably had been hard for him to go through with it given that he was treading unfamiliar territory. It wasn't his fault he hadn't known about Cana's meddling beforehand! And now she was feeling crummy for how she reacted- poor Natsu looked like a kicked puppy, and he didn't need that. The only other time he had looked like that was when she'd turned down a job he selected specifically for her because of a date she actually had for once-

"I need to talk to someone." Lucy interrupted her thoughts on the spot, flashing open her eyes and clutching the grass at her sides. She knew she would only be thinking in circles if she kept this up. "I need a second opinion…"

Who was she to ask? Erza and Juvia left hours ago, Gray hadn't arrived at the guild yet, Wendy…probably wouldn't know what to say, and just about everyone else in the guild wouldn't take her seriously; she'd either be the latest source for teasing ridicule or she'd launch a new wave of bets over her love life. And yes, she knew they existed- she had a few jewels on Levy getting together with Gajeel sooner or later.

"…oh, _duh_! I'll ask Levy! She's always good with girl talk, plus she got that reward as well-"

"Ah, did my lady love call for me?"

A hand flew up to shield Lucy's eyes in that moment as a brilliant flash of light erupted next to her. Once it had cleared up, Lucy rolled her head over to determine the source, only to find her Celestial Spirit, Leo the Lion, having emerged from his gate under his own power. He smoothly adjusted his glasses as he smirked down at her; Lucy puffed out her cheeks at his appearance as she sat back up.

"I said _Levy_, not Loke," Lucy stated pointedly, folding her arms. Loke fixed up his tie and shrugged aloofly.

"I know, but...it's close enough. Virgo wanted to show up, but I figured I should handle this one." There was melodic hum in the way he spoke –no doubt because he was in the presence of Lucy- and yet there was something troubling about it as well. "Even in the Celestial World, I and the others could hear your heart crying out. You're quite the discorded mess, huh?"

"Great- my problems are so palpable that they can be heard in a completely different dimension," Lucy sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest. Loke pushed his glasses higher up his nose.

"Well, that's just because you have such a deep connection with us. Of course, I can only assume most of that love is specifically reserved for _me_-"

"I'm pretty sure I told you I love all my spirits equally," Lucy stated, giving him a light shove as he plopped down next to her. She then looked hesitant and returned her attention to the grass. "…but I really don't know if you can help with this one, Loke. It's…pretty personal."

"Come on beautiful; tell me what's on your mind." He slung an arm over Lucy's shoulders; Lucy just let it be. "Whether you asked for me or not, I'm here and willing to lend an ear."

Lucy knew he wasn't going to leave until he was fully aware of what was going on with her –and Lucy didn't have the time to wait around for him to run out of power with _that _endurance- so she took a deep breath and got to the core of the problem.

"Loke…do you think Natsu and I…could we work in a relationship?"

There was a dull thud, and Lucy shrieked when she found Loke had suddenly slumped to his side and cascaded to the ground.

"What sort of joke is _this_?!" Loke gasped dramatically, putting an arm over his forehead. "I ask you to pour out your heart to me, and it's about another man?! You cruel, cruel woman!"

"Loke!" Lucy exclaimed as she shook him, although his over the top reaction actually cheered her up a little. "…I'm just a little overwhelmed, I guess. Natsu was trying to do something nice for me, but I let some heavy rumors freak me out and get in the way."

"I see," Loke hummed, sitting back up. He crossed his legs and placed an elbow on his knee so he could leaned on his hand to think. "I take it these rumors are of romantic origin?"

Lucy nodded wearily. "Yeah…Cana said-"

"Man!" Loke threw up his arms and Lucy ducked to avoid being hit. "Cana's predictions are always right! Guess that means you'll be off my market, but I won't ever stop trying-"

Lucy reprimanded the shameless flirtatious lion once again before he could take that any farther, then calmed down and continued.

"_Cana said_ that six guild members had romance coming their way, and right after I found that out, Natsu, Juvia, and Levy showed up saying they earning some crazy free meal as a reward for a job. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, but now it might really be possible…that they're three of the people Cana predicted. I don't know for sure though- she didn't give names, but…"

"That is pretty insane timing," Loke agreed. "But hey, if you're upset about not going, I'm_ always _available. Could make a picnic with food from the Celestial World, we could dine beneath the infinite night sky, right under the Leo constellation-"

"…admittedly that does sound really romantic," Lucy stated, with Loke silent fist pumping in victory next to her. She gave him a look afterward. "But my problem isn't about me _not_ going on a date. The problem is _I'm_ the one Natsu asked!"

Loke snapped his fingers and made a face. "Darn it, Natsu! Trying to steal my girl right from under me!"

"He's not stealing anyone!" Lucy wailed, but Loke just winked at her. She gave him another light shove and shook her head. "No, but seriously Loke…what do I do if Cana is right? What if I go with Natsu, and…something happens?"

Loke's head was tilted so that there was a glare over his shades, and Lucy couldn't see his eyes anymore. He was quiet for a moment, deeply pondering her question and taking it seriously like she'd asked. Lucy studied him curiously until finally his eyes met hers.

"Your future is solely in your hands, Lucy, especially for something like this. We both know Cana's good at what she does, but the future's always changing. What she predicted could be changing right this very second…nothing's ever set in stone." He twirled his ring around his finger, smiling genuinely at Lucy. "And_ I_ know that better than anyone. If I do recall, I lived for years believing I would never step foot in the Celestial Spirit World again…and you changed that outcome, huh?"

"I suppose you're right, when you put it like that…" Lucy susurrated, running her fingers through her hair. "But this is a little different. I mean, Natsu's involved too…"

"My point remains. Even if the unthinkable happens and Natsu suddenly drops down on a knee and proposes-" Lucy promptly choked on air. "-nothing has to happen if you accompany him. If a relationship is something you don't want, you don't have to go for it. And no fortune should force you, either."

He lifted his glasses and winked at her.

"But if you change your mind and start craving a little love, my arms are_ always_ wide open, sweetheart."

Lucy rolled her eyes at the latter statement, but felt a lot better after hearing his words. She genuinely smiled for the first time that morning, and seeing that alone let Loke know that his job was complete.

"Your advice is a little skewed, but…it really did help," Lucy stated, unable to control the grin on her face.

"I should hope it helped; if it didn't, I wouldn't be very good at my job," Loke chuckled, with Lucy joining in too. It felt good to laugh after stressing for a day and a night. She rose from the ground and dusted off her shirt and skirt before putting her hands on her hips.

"I suppose I should go smooth things over with Natsu now that my head is clear…but oh! Do you want me to open your gate? It'll save you some energy-"

"It's fine; I've got it." To prove it, Loke snapped his fingers and opened the Gate of the Lion in all its bright and sparking glory. Lucy shook her head again- out of all her spirits, Loke did love his flair… but she supposed that was just a perk when you were the leader of the Zodiac. He prepared to step through his gate, but Lucy took a few steps forward and excitedly waved him goodbye.

"Thank you, Loke! I appreciate it!"

Loke glanced over his shoulder and gave her a quick nod. "Anytime, Lucy. Just know that if your little date doesn't go as planned, I'll be waiting on standby to swoop in and be your date instead!"

"It _won't_ be a date!" Lucy asserted, but Loke just let out a laugh as he started to dissipate away.

"Sounds to me like you're in denial there; hopefully you won't be like that on_ our_ first date," he teased, much to Lucy's chagrin. However, his face softened up the slightest bit as his hands found their way into his pockets. "…but if there _had_ to be a man at your side that wasn't me, I'd probably pick Natsu as a runner up. But don't tell him _I _said that."

Lucy balked at the statement and demanded he explain himself, but Loke had already stepped through his gate with a two-fingered salute and vanished back to his own dimension. Soon enough, it was like he'd never even been there, but Lucy was well aware that he'd be back in a heartbeat if she required his help again. She stood there astonished for a moment, letting everything Loke said sink in, but she eventually smiled brighter. With a renewed energy to tackle the rest of the day, Lucy turned heel and sprinted back towards the guild, knowing what needed to be done.

. . .

Things were a little different when she returned to the guild- people were whispering and looking at her as she walked back in, but that wasn't all she picked up on. She heard some back and forth banters and a few wagers being passed around, but she didn't invest too much energy eavesdropping- things like that happened all the time. Even if they were talking about her, she refused to let it get to her- she was done with letting rumors push her around!

"Okay," she breathed, searching the area for her two favorite people. Natsu hadn't exactly been pleased when Lucy hurried away, but she knew he wouldn't stray too far from Happy when he was in a sullen mood. Lucy waded her way through the many tables –after noting that one of the walls had a sizeable dent in it- keeping an eye out for a blue cat and salmon-colored hair. Surely they didn't flat-out leave the guild? Lucy said she'd be back…

Just when she was about to inquire to Mirajane, Lucy spotted them. And of course, they were eating food. Lucy's face morphed into a relieved smile as she tucked strand of hair behind her ear. Natsu and Happy were in the middle of drowning themselves in noodles –one flambéed and the other fish-flavored- and were piling them in with satisfied gusto. Happy seemed relatively content, but even from a distance, Lucy could tell Natsu was still somewhat wounded from earlier. He was practically face down in his bowl, but as soon as he sensed Lucy coming over, his slurping immediately slowed.

Happy caught her approach too, immediately forgoing his meal to spring onto the table and stand protectively in front of the dragon slayer. Lucy paused and raised an eyebrow, with Happy making an attempt to look threatening.

"Hey, woman! If you're here to make Natsu even _more_ miserable after how fired up he was this morning, then you'd better turn back now Missy-!"

"Happy, I told you already it's not her fault," Natsu murmured, clearly embarrassed that the cat had put nearly all his emotions on the table in one fell swoop..._again_. He was silently thankfully that Lucy hadn't been around during his near-rampage on Cana as he avoided eye contact with her. "She's probably here to politely turn down my offer to avoid things getting too weird, that's all."

Lucy's jaw dropped as her hands fell to her hips. "Hey, don't put words in my mouth-!"

"Then I'm right, huh?" Natsu sank in his chair and his scarf managed to hide his expression. "…sorry Luce; I didn't mean to make things awkward. Guess I'll just go alone and spare anyone else any trouble-"

"Hold on, hold on!" Lucy stopped him hastily, putting her hands on his sunken shoulders. He only sank even lower. "I haven't even said anything yet! And you're the last one that needs to apologize- it was me who mucked things up."

Natsu shuffled in her grip and attempted a shrug. "…my timing still could have better. You were feeling all conflicted and I only made things worse."

"Well you can't blame yourself for any of that- you didn't know about Cana's prediction."

At those words Natsu's eyes flared like he was suddenly dying to say something, but he wisely chose to keep quiet. The last thing he needed Lucy to know was that Cana had conjured up another fortune… Lucy looked at him weirdly for a moment but brushed it off and gave his shoulders a reassuring squeeze.

"But cheer up a little, Natsu! A frown never looked good on you anyway," Lucy hummed. "And like I promised, I gave your offer some deep thought."

Lucy _thought_ she heard a "Didn't take you very long", but she was going to let that slide. Happy pattered over to her and jabbed her impatiently in the arm.

"Well don't torture him any longer Lucy!"

"What the-?! Keep out of this, cat! I'm trying to tell him that I agreed!"

As Lucy and Happy had a stare off, Natsu's whole face lit up. He sat up straight again and at Lucy, now debating furiously with Happy. Against the odds, she'd said yes…? She said _yes_?

The two were going at it pretty fiercely until Natsu nonchalantly slid Happy out of the discussion –"Hey, what gives?!" – and looked up to match Lucy's gaze. He was visibly pleased, but he still wasn't about to get his hopes up again.

"You're not doing this out of pity, are ya-?"

"Of course not! It was kinda sweet of you to ask me, and I realize I really would have said yes if Cana hadn't thrown me off my game." She took his hand in both of hers and beamed down at him. "But it's fine! What she said doesn't even matter- this isn't a real date or anything anyway!"

There was the subtlest bit of delay with Natsu, but regardless he sprang up out of his chair and flashed his room-brightening smirk.

"Well all right then! Awesome! You, me, Happy, and a ton of food…! Was that so hard to agree with?"

"I guess not!" Lucy laughed, feeling so much better. The duo exuberantly exchanged a high five and grinned at each other; nothing had changed between them, and things were looking up again. As Lucy giggled contently to herself, Natsu beamed at her with a stupid grin. She was genuinely excited now- the way he wanted her to react to begin with. He wondered where she'd gone or what she did to come back so happy, but he didn't care- she didn't have to tell him.

Especially since_ he_ was keeping the rest of Cana's prediction a secret.

Once she had settled down, Lucy mentioned something about dressing nice –aw man, what was wrong with his normal clothes?!- before she said that she should probably get back to surveying the request board. Natsu knew that was just a cover up- she probably wanted to go gossip the news with Levy or Mirajane. But he kept grinning and let her go, although she turned back around to look at him one more time.

"…really, thank you Natsu," Lucy stated, giving him her sideways thumbs up with her right hand. "I…I feel like I don't give you nearly enough credit sometimes…"

"Don't worry about it, Luce." Natsu's hand found its way to the back of his head. "I wouldn't have it any other way!"

She nodded in agreement before taking off for real. Natsu was left standing there watching her walk away- again, but this time it wasn't a bad thing. Happy made sure she was well out of earshot before skipping across the table and landing next to Natsu, pinching his own cheeks and making kissy sounds.

"Oooh! Natsu's got a date with Lucy cuz he liiiiiiikes her~!"

But when he didn't get a response, the cat's ears ticked. Looking up, Natsu was still just standing there- smiling, but not as bright as before. Now it was more of a wistful smile…like everything was right in the world…yet right in the wrong way. It was such a foreign look that Happy ceased his teasing and tugged on Natsu's coat.

"Hey, she said yes, Natsu! You can be super-fired up all over again!"

"Yeah…"

"_Huh_…?" Happy frowned, wondering why his mini-celebration was completely disregarded. "Hey, what is it?"

There was a deep silence between them before Natsu responded emptily, "…It's nothing, Happy."

Happy so wasn't about to buy that. He folded his arms and stared until Natsu became uncomfortable and snapped "What?!"

"I don't get why you're so bummed! You got your date with Lucy, and not only that, but that prediction you told me about is in your favor now! …speaking of, I dunno why you didn't tell Lucy about it-"

"Because if she knew she wouldn't have agreed!" Natsu suddenly wailed, making Happy completely flinch. The dragon slayer sunk dejectedly after his outburst and bemoaned quietly. "You weren't there before…she almost didn't agree…because she thought I was going to try something…"

"So?"

"…I totally _was_, even without the prediction." Glumly, he plopped back into his chair. What little remained of his flaming noodles had grown cold by this point. "It was like being rejected for real."

"But she came back!" Happy pointed out, prancing around optimistically. "So now you can go through with your plan anyway! It's like you really are the match for Lucy Cana predicted!"

"That's not how I wanted it to go through…" Natsu murmured lowly, although Happy didn't entirely hear him.

"Hmm? Natsu, did you say something?"

"…nah, just mumbling to myself. It was nothing." His fierce grin then came back as he punched his fist into his palm. "But you're right, Happy! I don't have time to waste moping over nothing! Bottom line is we've got an awesome night ahead of us, and we're going to make the absolute best of it!"

"Aye sir!" Happy wailed in agreement, although his enthusiasm died seconds later. "…ah, except it's still not until tomorrow."

"Oh yeah, shoot…what are we supposed to do until then?"

The two put on extremely thoughtful looks, but gave up after a few moments and decided to go for another round of food. Happy was the first to make his way over, claiming to get some more fish noodles without the noodles. Natsu chuckled out of mild bemusement before rushing over to join his friend.

Heh, what _was_ he so upset about? There was nothing TO worry about! He sorted things out with Lucy. They were on solid terms again. Lucy agreed to go on his date with him.

…except_ she_ still thought this wasn't a date.


	6. Somebody Loves You

**ilovefairytail: **Aw, thanks! Natsu and Gray just so happen to be my favorites, so I try my best to keep them as in-character as possible, and it's nice to hear that it's paying off. Everyone else just comes pretty easily though, as there are so many different personalities and they just bounce off of each other naturally. I will absolutely keep updating- and look! Here's one now. xD

. . .

**Hi guys, sorry for the bit of a longer wait this time! I was ironing out some details for a future Gruvia story, but it gave me some insight on how to proceed with this story!  
**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 5: Somebody Loves You~

When Gray entered the guild sometime after Natsu and Lucy's little confrontation, he was greeted by overhearing the following unnerving phrase:

"Erza took Juvia out shopping for the big date tomorrow! I heard she just _had_ to sport some new threads before going out! Oh, it's so cute how into it she's getting!"

Of course that was Mirajane spreading such juicy gossip amongst other things, and Gray was receiving a mix of cheers and chiding laughter from anyone who'd been within earshot of her. Cana, now somewhat drained from Natsu's _talk_ with her, still found it in her to give Gray a killer smirk and a knowing wink.

What was happening?!

"A real man would put effort into the date as well!" he heard Elfman remark, with Evergreen adjusting her glasses in agreement.

"Yes, but I wouldn't be surprised if Juvia showed up in the most elegant gown Fiore had to offer…and then Gray arrives in nothing but his boxers. We wouldn't want to expect too much of the poor boy."

"If that wouldn't cause Juvia to run for the hills out of embarrassment, then I wouldn't know who'd be more insane," added Bickslow offhandedly over the roar of laughter, but that remark only served to make the chortles grow louder. Gray felt his blood rush to his face at that final statement, but he was going to nip this thing in the bud right here and now…!

"Let's get one thing clear," he growled as he barged straight into the belittling conversation, catching everyone's attention but failing to kill off the collective simpering. "I'm_ not_ going on a date with Juvia-"

"But we all heard that you agreed yesterday!" shouted Romeo out of nowhere, and Gray's stomach did a flip. No one had a private life while in Fairy Tail…!

"Oh, don't tell us you're backing out now!" "No backbone, I swear." "Tch, no tact either." "Real men don't leave women hanging-!"

Was no one on his side here?!

"No you idiots, I'm still going, but you need to quit referring to it as a date!"

"That's not what Juvia said...!" "It's totally a date." "Oh, and what would YOU call it?!"

"I…I…" Shoot, what COULD he call it? Maybe it was technically a date, but there was nothing romantically implicit about it! Why'd everything have to be such a big deal around here?! "…it's not a date."

Unanimous groans and murmurs exploded afterwards, and Gray picked up a few snippets of "Hopeless", "Clueless", and "What's _wrong_ with this guy?"

Gray just came in to get some work done and he was honestly feeling so attacked right now.

Everyone got off his back for the time being, but that didn't improve his mood in the slightest. As crass and annoying as everyone had been, they did make one thing painstakingly clear- Juvia _was_ putting more effort into their outing than he was. He didn't want to look like a jerk showing up like he half-heartedly cared, because that just wasn't true. He just didn't think the extra flair was necessary.

And that was how he ended up spending the afternoon with Wendy.

She'd been the only one _not _mercilessly heckling him, and Gray had wanted a second opinion with buying some new clothes for the "date" himself. Naturally, Wendy was happy to help…along with Carla, who stated that she would make a conscious effort not to chide him so much since he was going out of his way for Juvia. …and to make sure Wendy wasn't exposed to any more unnecessary indecency.

Wendy's first mission was to go into the clothes shop as a scout to ensure that Juvia wasn't there –and not lurking around somewhere waiting to catch him- but once Wendy confirmed that Juvia and Erza were probably at a store for _women_, Gray made his entrance.

Wendy didn't know too much about fancy dinner dates or how to dress for them, but both she and Carla were handy when it came to fashion. Maybe not to Erza's standards, but they were the next best thing. Gray dragged every nice-looking suit and tie combo he could find off the coatrack and spread them out for Wendy to evaluate- Carla chastised him for being so careless, but it had been effective. Wendy picked out the top three outfits from the selection and sent Gray off to go try them on.

"If you ask me, maybe he should just put on as many layers as possible- enough so that he'll still have something on by the time the date ends," Carla casually suggested, but Gray was abruptly reminded of his Edolas counterpart and shot down her remark.

"Stop worrying about me stripping! If I'm wearing something nice, I'll be less likely to do so."

"I just find it so bizarre how this has become such a chronic problem," Carla huffed. Gray poked his head around from the changing curtain and glowered at her.

"You've been a member of Fairy Tail how long and you're only calling me out _now_?"

"Just…finish putting the first outfit on, Gray," Wendy interrupted before things could get too out of hand. Grumbling, he vanished back behind the curtain, still murmuring to himself. Wendy sighed in relief, taking a seat in a chair and swinging her legs as she waited. Carla busied herself by observing the price tags of everything, while on the other side of the curtain it sounded like Gray was struggling.

Feeling self-conscious, Wendy bit her lip and squeaked out, "Um, Gray?"

"What's up, Wendy? …wait, don't tell me there's a hole in this curtain-!"

"No, no!" Wendy assured, though Carla was over there in a flash to double check. "…I was just sort of wondering why you picked me to come with you instead of, um, a guy…?"

Gray grunted as he dueled with a particularly finicky sleeve. "Why, so I can have Natsu or Gajeel giving me a hard time? Or Elfman trying to tell me that nothing looks manly on me? No thank you."

He gasped out in triumph seconds later, then stepped out of the curtain and demonstrated his current ensemble.

"Besides, I'd rather get a female opinion, and aside from Erza, you're the only one that Juvia won't rage against…anyway, what do you think?"

"You know I think anything looks fine- regardless of what the others said, I'm positive Juvia won't care what you look like," Wendy declared brightly. "The fact you went to the trouble of dressing well speaks loud enough."

Gray sulked and leaned in the doorway, folding his arms and staring at the ground. Wendy panicked like she'd done something wrong and held up her hands.

"B-but now that I _really_ think about it, that blue suit with the green accents would look better! Or even the, um, gray and blue…!"

Gray uttered something along the lines of "I like the gray one", then tumbled back into the dressing room. Wendy sighed in relief while Carla trotted over and hopped into Wendy's lap.

"Don't let him get to you Wendy," Carla teemed, but Wendy grinned nervously in return.

"Oh, no, he's fine! I'm sure his date just has him a little out of sorts right now-"

"It's_ not_ a date!" Gray asserted, throwing his pointer finger into the air to make his point. Wendy laughed a little while Carla gave the curtain a long hard look.

"…hmm, then that does indeed beg the question- what made you agree to all this in the first place?"

Gray stopped shuffling around as Wendy's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing! I-I think it's really nice, but it's…also unlike you…"

The ice wizard in the dressing room remained silent as he swapped out his clothes with a little less vigor. When he didn't reply immediately, Wendy sunk in her seat and cuddled Carla closer.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"It's…complicated," Gray stated instantly afterward, and Wendy snapped her mouth shut. "There's really no ulterior motive or anything. I want to spend time with my guild mate with no romantic underlay. Is that too much to understand?"

"Of course not, but…I don't think Juvia's quite on the same wavelength," Wendy susurrated. "You weren't there this morning- she and Erza were talking nonstop about tomorrow, and then they went on an all-day shopping spree!"

"Not to mention that poor starry-eyed girl is convinced this is the ticket straight to your heart…" Carla added unhelpfully. "You are aware she might push this to its extreme…?"

"Yeah; it's _Juvia_," Gray said emphatically. Carla only grimaced at his response.

"Then you really should be treating this a little more perceptively and keep her feelings in mind. The last thing you need to be doing is giving that girl false hope."

"Well what am I_ supposed_ to do?" Gray's voice unexpectedly rose irately, and both girls stiffened at the change in tone. "At the end of the day she _is _my friend- am I just supposed to cut off all ties from her to avoid unintentionally leading her on? Or am I supposed to give in and fake a love I don't have?! Because that'd be _so_ much better…!"

Wendy and Carla froze where they were sitting; after the sting of his words faded, Gray abashedly poked his head out of the curtain again.

"I mean...that's where I'm at, aren't I? Everyone's so worried that I'll hurt Juvia, and it's not like I _want_ to…but they make _me_ the bad guy in the process because I don't feel the way everyone wants me to!"

Grunting in frustration, Gray snapped the curtain shut and rolled back out of sight once again. He collapsed into the chair within and put his head in his hands. That was his endless struggle with Juvia; it was one big huge trap. They were currently in a precarious balance, with him accepting her friendship and her –mostly- holding back with her crush, but to push to either extreme would result in someone being unhappy.

No one understood that the reason Gray insisted things stay the way they currently were was to avoid any of that.

Worst part was, he couldn't picture how Juvia felt. Most people would shrug and give up when it was clear that the other person wasn't interested. But not Juvia- even after firmly making his position to her, she was still adamant that there was _hope_, and she changed _again_ just for him. That's what made it so hard to walk away, knowing she was just going to follow anyway.

So why change anything?

"…Gray?"

Gray brought his head back up when Wendy's soft voice cut through his thoughts- he forgot that he'd finished changing again, but now he didn't feel like coming back out. He stayed where he was, but Wendy was persistent.

"I'm sorry you feel that way Gray," Wendy practically whispered. "I guess no one can really empathize with you…"

Damn straight.

"…but I think we can change that." Her voice gained a lighter tone, and Gray raised his head up a little more. "I'm sure you and Juvia can work something out! And I know you're going to say that 'Oh, Juvia can't be reasoned with-!'"

That wasn't true…! And he didn't sound like that.

"But I'm positive there's some sort of compromise! Juvia is one of the most caring, compassionate, and understanding people we know! …er, when someone's not trying to 'steal' you, anyway."

Gray huffed and blew his bangs out of his face.

"She doesn't want you unhappy. You don't want her unhappy. …Isn't that enough of a reason to try to sort it all out?"

Wendy waited eagerly in her chair; Carla put her hands on hips and lifted her nose into the air. After what seemed like an eternity, Gray emerged from the dressing room, showing off his ensemble. He sported a gray long coat –which was more silver upon closer inspection- gray dress pants, blue shirt, and blue and silver striped tie. Wendy clapped her hands eagerly and immediately deemed it perfect while Carla even nodded her approval. Gray smiled slightly back, stuffing his hand into the pockets.

"…yeah," he finally said, facing the ground. "It is reason enough to try."

Wendy was still for a moment, but she broke out into an even bigger grin. He gave her a single nod before twirling around to go take off his suit so he could purchase it properly. While he was changing back into his normal outfit, he thought he'd heard Wendy mutter something, but he'd only managed to catch part of it.

"…it's okay that somebody loves you, Gray."

Gray froze in the room before forcibly poking his head back out. He looked around, only to see Wendy cuddling Carla in her arms, merely smiling and shrugging like nothing even happened.

. . .

Heading back to the guild had been a mostly silent trip, with Wendy contently skipping ahead of Gray while the latter was hanging his head and pondering to himself. First Erza had attempted to pound some reason into his head, and then Wendy's innocence had given him some unexpected wisdom. Gray was actually feeling pretty introspective, until some reality of the situation crossed his mind.

"Only problem now is that I'll have to take on a ton more jobs to replenish what I just spent on this monkey suit…"

"I'd be happy to help you out if you'd like!" Wendy exclaimed. "You could even have the bigger share of the pay; gaining experience will be more than enough reward for me!"

Gray slung his bag of "date clothes" over his shoulder and smiled. "Thanks kiddo- I'd appreciate it."

"Well I for one think you would befit more from purely solo missions- and nothing too dangerous, of course," Carla remarked. "Always relying on others will stunt your own strength."

"Hey, there's always strength in numbers; nothing wrong with a little back up," Gray interjected after seeing the aggrieved look on Wendy's face. "And at least she's brimming with the initiative. Sometimes I wonder if the members of the 'guild's strongest team' are the only ones working anymore…"

Wendy giggled to herself as she continued to skip ahead of Gray, while the ivory Exceed made a remark under her breath about naiveté, although smiled at the young girl's enthusiasm.

As they walked, nothing of particular interest happened, but there was a strange couple walking towards them. The silver-haired woman was dressed in mahogany clothes that were far too big for her, along with oversized gloves and boots, while the fedora-wearing man's clothes were grimy and looked like they'd never come into contact with soap. Carla winkled her nose in disgust and prepared a long complaint, but both Wendy and Gray told her to just keep walking. Still, Gray ended up making some regrettable eye contact with the woman- it was one of the most uncomfortable stares he'd ever received in his _life_.

"Those two…were unsavory…" remarked Carla, shuddering right up to her tail once the couple had passed them. "Who walks around in public like that…?"

"Judging a book by its cover much?" Gray murmured, although he did agree- those two were extremely unsettling.

It was then that they noticed Wendy had stopped, and she was grabbing at both of her ears. Gray turned around and gave her a questioning look while Carla demanded to know what the problem was. The Sky Dragon Slayer recoiled slightly but shook her head.

"I just thought I heard…those two people over there say something bad about Fairy Tail…" she whispered, clearly disturbed by what she overheard. "They sounded vengeful…and they sounded like they were out for blood!"

All three of them dared to look back, being as discreet as possible- the duo was engaged in a heated conversation now, and it struck Gray as far too suspicious. And if they were conspiring against the guild…

Narrowing his eyes, Gray motioned for Wendy and Carla to follow him, and the three of them darted into a nearby alley, where they were within earshot of the strange duo. Carla began to reprimand them for such underhanded behaviors, but Wendy covered up her mouth –naturally upsetting the Exceed- while Gray leaned out a little so he could hear better.

"…yeah, somehow they managed to trash the boss' plans and managed to get Rocco sent to the slammer. Heard it was some watery chick that managed to get the jump on him," remarked the male, looking absolutely ornery just by discussing the topic. Gray immediately grimaced while Wendy hitched a gasp- Gray held his hand over her mouth and kept listening.

"That Salamander was there too, and both of them completely cleaned up," murmured the female. "But they made a big mistake meddling in affairs where they don't belong! Then again, I suppose that's what they're known for…"

"The only reason they found out about it was because that rich bastard found our encoded plans, and then hired some solid script mage to decipher it." The man scowled and spat on the sidewalk. "He and Fairy Tail don't know what's coming to them now…"

Gray could feel Wendy quaking with fear next to him, but he needed a little more information…taking the risk, Gray stretched his head out as far as he could go, trying to get a better look at these guys. Something significant, anything that stood out-?

And then he saw the dark marks on both their collarbones.

They were clearly guild marks, both black and both in the same spot. However, Gray had no idea what guild this was, as he'd never seen nor heard of a guild represented by a thorny black rose…which meant only one thing…

Dark guild.

"I knew there was something fishy about their mission," Gray huffed under his breath. "Did they not know they were dealing with a dark guild…?"

"Gray," Wendy murmured through his hand. "What are you-"

"We have to get back to Fairy Tail," he declared. "We have to tell Gramps about this immediately."

Wendy saw how serious Gray was and nodded instantly, with Carla saying that they should hurry before they drew unwanted attention. After double checking to make sure they were looking the other way, Gray, Carla, and Wendy darted out of their hiding place with the utmost stealth.

Well, if you didn't count Wendy tripping over her own two feet.

The dark guild members immediately flashed their heads over their shoulders, wondering what was going on. When they only found a girl lying on the sidewalk they started to carry on their way-

"Wait…that girl had the mark of Fairy Tail…!" screeched the woman, making the trio's hearts leap into their throats. Wendy hastily tried to cover the guild mark on her shoulder, but it was already too late. The man whirled around and wasted no time firing a shot of magic at Wendy. The girl barely had a chance to get back on her feet before Gray tackled her out of the line of fire and took the strike for himself, hissing as whatever it was seared into his side.

"Gray…! You've need let me heal that!" Wendy shrieked, seeing that the strange magic had burned straight through his shirt and left a nasty mark on his skin. Gray's face was clearly contorted in pain, but he tucked Wendy and Carla behind him and glowered at his adversaries.

"I'm fine," Gray muttered, placing his suit off to the side. This was probably going to get messy.

The devious duo crept up to them as one, their smiles lacking any intentions of a friendly greeting. The man's magic was at the ready in his hands- a nauseating green and purplish energy that made Gray sick just looking at it.

"I take it you're_ all_ Fairy Tail then…" the man sneered, shifty eyes meeting Gray's. Gray lowered his into a scowl.

"What would that be to you?"

"Don't try to lie- that girl bares the mark right there!" cawed the woman, with Wendy shifting said mark out of sight. "And we know Fairy Tail; always willing to do anything for their nakama…what utter crap."

"You've got about ten seconds to beat it before I beat_ you_," Gray grunted, reaching down to his side and putting ice on his injury. The man noticed this and broke out into a chortle.

"That won't do you much good, boy! My Acid Magic is some pretty potent stuff…If you really want to save yourself the trouble of entering a world of hurt, just hand over that pretty-headed water mage to us," the man scoffed. Gray only bristled. "We won't be greedy and ask for Salamander-"

"He'd probably blaze a trail straight to him anyway," the woman droned coyly.

"-but that girl is responsible for takin' out a good friend of ours…and we just want to _talk_."

A lot of emphasis was put on that final word, and Gray wasn't stupid enough to believe that talking was all they were planning to do. These scumbags…!

"You can talk to the back of my frosty hand if you're that eager for conversation," Gray sneered. "Like I'd rat out one of my guild mates to trash like you; get out of my sight, filth."

"Ease up, Gray…!" Wendy winced, shuffling behind him. "Don't provoke them more than necessary…!"

Too bad Gray himself was already provoked. The woman sighed and faced her own guild mate, tugging her overly lengthy gloves tighter.

"Shall we just dispose of them now, Arsenic? They're nothing but a pain in the neck, and I would love to see Fairy Tail's face when we send them back bloody and battered…"

Arsenic's face warped with a wicked snarl. "That is,_ if_ we send them back, Mercury."

Gray had enough of this and slammed his fist and palm together, gaining a frosty aura as he stood ready for battle.

"Go ahead and make my day, punks."

"With pleasure!" roared Arsenic, a purple magic circle forming under him. "Go, Acid Rain!"

Another magic circle appeared above Gray, where drops of acid began drizzling down onto him from above. Each little drip on his exposed skin equaled the pain of a thousand bites, so he quickly made himself an ice shield over his head…until it spontaneously melted. Horrified, Gray tried again…and found his ice melted once again.

"What the hell?"

Through the acid rain he found Mercury laughing insanely, hands spread out and eyes wide with insanity.

"You're an Ice Mage?! Holy crap, we are going to wipe the _floor_ with you!" she cackled. Gray shielded his face with his arm as he summoned an Ice Lance, hoping to keep her out of the way. Mercury merely cast her hand out, all of Gray's ice melting before it could even reach her.

"Melt Magic," Mercury hummed, twinkling her fingers. "Any inanimate object with a solid composition is pretty much my own personal plaything…your ice is nothing more than a puddle; the concrete nothing more than one giant weapon!"

Grunting, Gray gave up on magic and threw himself at Mercury, swinging his leg around and hoping to knock her to the ground. She burst into a cackle again as she decomposed herself into a puddle, and Gray couldn't help but be reminded of Juvia…

His brief moment of distraction left him wide open for a "Radioactive Ray" from Arsenic. Gray roared as more harsh acid burned away at him, leaving his clothes in tatters and his body in worse shape. Wendy couldn't stand seeing this anymore and riskily moved out of her hiding spot, assuming her casting pose.

"I've got you, Gray!"

She went to work with her support magic, chanting her incantations and casting Vernier, Arms, and Armor, promptly increasing Gray's speed, attack, and defense. It was just in time too- Arsenic had thrown another smatter of acid at Gray, but he was now fast enough to dodge and emerge –mostly- unscathed. Already aware his magic was nearly useless, Gray roared and threw himself at Arsenic with fists and feet flying. His boot landed a satisfying kick to the man's stubble-covered face, but when he alighted back on the ground, he found that he couldn't move. Struggling, he looked down to find himself stuck in the concrete up to his ankles!

"Wah ha ha ha ha!"

Gray's pupils shrank as Mercury threw her hands up, the whole sidewalk turning into a melted leaden goop. She stomped forward and sent Gray flying backwards in a giant wave of concrete. Once he was out of the way, Mercury cast her hand to the side to trap Wendy in a similar manner…but she wasn't there anymore.

"You can't melt what isn't solid!" Wendy shouted from the air, Carla having flown her above the battle. She sucked in a ton of air, then cupped her hands around her mouth as she billowed "Sky Dragon's…ROAR!"

"She's a _dragon slayer_?!" squalled Mercury, completely defenseless against Wendy's sky magic. She screamed as she was blown off her feet and across the road, but Arsenic broke through the gust and fired another shot of toxic gunk. Wendy yelped as Carla moved to dodge it, then raised her arms and cast them across her torso.

"Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!"

"Toxic Waste!" barked Arsenic, and a wall of pure radioactive goo was suddenly conjured up out of nowhere. Not only did it serve to block the attack, but it bubbled for a moment before countering with twice the force. Wendy and Carla were hit with a ton of toxins, both of them breathing some in and causing Carla to drop out of the air like a hot potato. Mercury recovered and jumped at the opportunity, rolling forward and preparing to swallow Wendy up into the ground.

"Ice Make_ Saucer_!"

Mercury was struck by an ice attack from behind, clattering to the ground and partially splattering upon landing. She bent her head up to find that Gray had covered the whole street in ice, with him now ice skating around to increase his already vamped up speed. His eyes were fierce as he twirled about the street, completely in his element and firing off lances like no one's business. His freezing of the ground also managed to save Wendy, who staggered to her feet and grabbed her head.

"I…don't feel so good…"

"H-hang in there Wendy," Carla encouraged, although she wasn't faring much better either.

Meanwhile, both Arsenic and Mercury were using their magic to disintegrate Gray's ice, but Gray was faster, recreating icy ground as soon as it was taken out. He worked his way around to Arsenic's blind spot, coating his arms in sharp ice and stabbing into him from behind. Arsenic yowled and flew forward as Mercury spun about to ensnare Gray again, but he created a ramp and skated off it, allowing him to take to the air and knee her in the torso from above. She ended up toppling onto where Arsenic was, and the two could barely move as Gray alighted on the ground, arms still covered with ice and he _dared_ either one of them to try and melt it.

"Don't think you've won you little pest," Arsenic spat, clawing weakly at the ground. His back was _killing _him now that there was a giant gash in it. "You haven't heard the last of the Black Thorn guild- you can bet your lives on it!"

Gray glowered at the both of them for a few more seconds before slamming his fists onto the ground.

"Ice Make…GEYSER!"

Huge spiky crystals of ice shot up out of the ground, growing bigger and wider the closer they came to the Black Thorn duo. Mercury attempted to melt it, but there was too much at once, and the two of them found themselves entirely encased by ice. It wouldn't be long before they'd be able to break out, so Gray scooped the girls and his suit into his arms, then quickly skated off back to the guild. Once he ran out of ice, he simply started to run, but when Wendy stirred in his grasp, it abruptly reminded him of his injury.

And nearly sent him crashing to the ground.

Gray managed to take a knee before completely tumbling with everyone in his grasp, but that still didn't excuse him for his moment of weakness. He gritted his teeth and bit through the now searing pain, thanks to his decrease in adrenaline. Sensing his discomfort, Carla and Wendy climbed out of his arms; Carla held his suit while Wendy knelt down to tend to Gray's wound.

"Wendy, no…you're in as rough of shape as I am…don't waste your energy…"

"I just took in a few toxins; the fresh air I inhaled earlier should help counteract that. Besides, I can't heal myself," Wendy explained, hands glowing as she worked. "You on the other hand have an acid burn…I know we have to hurry to the guild, but at least let me cast a deterrent spell to prevent it from getting worse."

"Tch, nothing a bandage wrap can't fix," Gray remarked, but removed his makeshift ice sealer so Wendy could get directly at his wound. Once she was finished, Gray stood back up, although now that his adrenaline wore off, he was somewhat shaky. Wendy offered herself for him to lean on, although she needed someone to lean on herself. Carla handed Gray back his suit as the two staggered down the sidewalk, and she felt rather bad for the both of them.

"We were at the wrong time and place, I suppose…"

"No," contended Gray, gravely shaking his head. "If we weren't there, we wouldn't have learned that a dark guild plans on targeting our friends. And with who they were talking about, it sounds like it was Black Thorn that attacked the party Natsu, Juvia, and Levy went to."

"But Master wouldn't have let them go if he knew a dark guild was involved!" Wendy exclaimed, but Gray only narrowed his eyes.

"…that's what makes me think there's something darker under the surface of all this…it's time to get some clarification."

Because the client of that vague job wasn't just merely paying for a meal at the fanciest eating establishment around. There was something _huge_ he owed Natsu, Juvia, and Levy…

He was repaying a much larger debt than just _party security_.

. . .

Meanwhile, Juvia was acting as a mannequin for Erza.

Okay, what was _actually_ happening was that Erza was forcing her to try on a variety of ensembles, yet she barely had any time to get an opinion on any of them before Erza found the smallest thing wrong with each one. She'd rip off one dress, slap on another, judge it…rise, and repeat. Juvia was pretty sure she'd worn more clothes in that one outing alone than she had in her whole existence!

"Could we…slow down, please?" Juvia announced meekly, trying to figure out why there was now a raccoon on her head and a fox draped over her shoulders. "There's no rush…"

"Nonsense! We have a whole_ store_ to try on!" Erza insisted, but when she came running at Juvia with a neon-colored dress that gave Juvia some serious vertigo, someone had to give.

"None of these colors look good on Juvia anyway!" the water mage wailed, swatting away Erza's latest sample and looking utterly distraught. "…why can't she just wear something _blue_?"

"You _always_ wear blue," Erza deadpanned like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "If you want to catch Gray's eye, you have to deviate a little bit. Trust me, I've known Gray for years, and he's astute when it comes to details."

"O-okay…" sighed Juvia, collapsing into a chair in the dressing room. Erza finally caught onto how her extreme makeovers were wearing out Juvia, and decided a much more tactful approach was in order.

"…all right then. Blue is out of the question, so we'll have to pick a different color. Any other colors you're partial to?"

"…um, gray-?"

"Juvia."

"…black and white, then?" Juvia asked hopefully, but Erza frowned and shook her head.

"For accents maybe, but you can't have that as the main color! White will make you look even paler and black won't get Gray's attention. It has to be an actual color."

"Ooh, why is this so hard? Can't I just pick a nice dress and-"

"Out of the question!" Erza bellowed dramatically, drawing a sword for no apparent reason and holding it to the sky. "Clothes make the woman, young Juvia! If you want maximum enjoyment out of this experience, you must dress the part! Anything less simply won't do at all!"

And thus, Juvia became a rainbow.

…she tried on red, but it didn't compliment her hair right. Orange was even worse, and yellow was too "loud". Green was good, but Erza figured that'd be a color Gray would have and they couldn't be too matching –"But why not?! Lucy and Natsu wore matching clothes that one time!"- and pink and brown didn't mix with her personality, facial complexion, eye color…yadda yadda yadda. There was an endless list of various insignificant _things _Erza had an issue with. During this, Juvia had been clinging desperately to a simple blue gown but Erza wrestled it away like an angry mother, glaring at Juvia fiercely to get her point across…and then the redhead had an epiphany.

"Purple."

"…purple?" confirmed Juvia. Erza nodded, her eyes lighting up excitedly.

"_Purple_."

In the next moment, Erza was gone like she'd teleported, and Juvia was left to deal with her thoughts. She almost resembled a girl awaiting punishment with how uncertain she looked in her chair. Of course, hundreds of butterflies fled to her stomach whenever she thought about the date, only because she was so nervous that she'd mess something up and lose all respect from Gray. She was even too nervous to happily fantasize about the best case scenarios.

This was just too important.

"I'VE GOT IT!"

Juvia yelped and fell right out of her chair as Erza whisked back with a dress hidden behind her, and a very devious gleam in her eye. Juvia was rightfully terrified.

"…at ease, you act like I've prepared a death trap for you to wear! Although that would be an interesting choice for armor…hm."

"…your overzealousness frightens Juvia."

Erza blinked at that, then shook it off and continued to grin.

"No, I promise you're going to love it! Now, I know you're a pretty conservative person compared to some of the other females in the guild, but I think a slightly provocative choice of dress will be most ideal for this situation."

Juvia immediately flushed. "P-provocative…?! In front of G-Gray-sama…?!"

"I assure you, it's not as revealing as anything Lucy wears."

"…Juvia will give this a try, then."

"Excellent!" Erza whooped, pushing both Juvia and the selected purple gown into the dressing room, leaving her to wait on the outside like an excited school girl. She heard Juvia gasp in excitement from inside, with Erza looking quite proud of herself, and patiently waited for Juvia to finish. "Don't worry, just take your time-!"

"I'm done…" Juvia whispered, although she was fumbling to get the curtain open. Erza quickly stopped her and took hold of the curtain herself. "Um, Erza, what are you-?"

"Shh! I want this moment to be special- the big reveal!" she gushed. "I want to see the look on your face as you see yourself in the mirror for the first time…!"

"You really like your designer fashion…"

Erza looked gravely serious. "I _do."_

She then coughed and regained her excited enthusiasm, making up some loud and boisterous announcement of Juvia's "debut". Of course this only turned Juvia into a shrinking violet, but when Erza ripped the curtain back and Juvia took a peek in the mirror, the water mage's eyes grew wide.

"W-wah…?!"

Erza immediately became defensive. "Oh no, what's wrong?! Have I miscalculated? I didn't find a single thing wrong this time but if there's something I missed-"

"No, no…" Juvia whispered breathlessly, taking a few steps forward and putting her hand to the mirror. "I…it's just…"

"What?!" Erza begged frantically. Juvia closed her eyes, then opened them back up with a wide smile.

"I'm…pretty…" Then she gradually became more excited and clapped her hands. "Juvia is _gorgeous_…! She likes this _very_ much!"

It took Erza a second to register the statement, but she gained a true smile and put her hands on Juvia's shoulders.

"You're beautiful even without the dress, but at least this way we can make sure the message gets through to a dense brick like Gray," Erza smirked. Juvia would have liked to protest against Gray being a "dense brick", but she was too distracted with herself in the mirror. The long light purple gown was rather form fitting up top yet looser at the bottom to allow for better movement. It came with silver gloves and a silver scarf, and as Erza said, most of Juvia's back was uncovered, along with some –but not a lot- around the torso area. Enough to deviate, but Juvia didn't feel utterly exposed.

It was perfect.

Juvia beamed contently, twirling and posing in front of the mirror to inspect all angles of herself. However, while she was doing that, she could see Erza's reflection too. There was a solid and proud smile on her face, but there was the ghost of sadness and longing all at the same time- something Juvia could easily recognize. And it was impossible for Juvia to be happy when someone else wasn't.

"…can Juvia ask a question?"

"Certainly," Erza returned instantly. "There's no need to hesitate."

"All right…" Juvia met her own gaze in the mirror as she locked her fingers together. "…why did you wish to help me so badly? I appreciate the help, but…I don't quite understand…"

Juvia wasn't expecting Erza to suddenly plunk a metal-clad arm over her shoulder, nor did she anticipate such a straight up answer right away.

"You…have something I no longer do, Juvia," Erza began slowly, although the firm smile never left her face. "And unlike me, it's still within your grasp. All I want to do is help grab it and never let it go."

"What do I have that Titania does not?" Juvia asked blankly. "Surely…I couldn't even compare to all the things that you have…"

"Not at all. What you have is something that managed to slip through my fingers thanks to the cruel path of fate." Erza beamed wistfully and folded her arms behind her back. "…and that's the chance for real love. I'm well aware we may not be able to change Gray's mind in just a night, but…it could be a start."

Juvia stared with wide eyes as Erza like she'd just revealed some big secret of the universe. Erza just gave her a knowing look.

"I also have to admit that you do come on a bit strong, but your love_ is_ truly genuine. That much is obvious," Erza declared. "Gray really doesn't realize how lucky he is to have somebody that loves him. But maybe we can fix that."

Erza then flinched when she realized that Juvia was crying- silent, tearful sniffling.

"H-hey, what…? Did I say something to upset you…?! If so, I humbly apologize-"

"No." Juvia broke out into a smile as she hastily wiped her tears away. "It's just nice…to have to some reassurance. It's nice knowing that someone believes in me…I've been told so many times to give up, but I could never do that to Gray. Juvia loves him too much…and now she knows someone understands."

Erupting with happiness, Juvia broke out into a wail and threw herself at Erza, hugging her tightly.

"Trust me, Juvia. If there's anyone who wants to believe in a seemingly impossible relationship…it's me."

"Don't worry," Juvia assured through the embrace, catching Erza off guard for the second time. "Juvia believes in you too."

Erza gasped out of surprise, but chuckled and pulled away.

"A-all right, we can't get too mushy now," she remarked, dabbing at her own now damp eyes. "We have to finish putting together your outfit after all, and daylight is burning."

Juvia blinked in confusion. "But we have already secured Juvia's dress…she likes this one!"

"I know, but we need accessories!" Erza practically sang, stars in her eyes. "Nothing says 'love me' like a good accessory!"

She grabbed Juvia and gallivanted away, ready to accessorize until there wasn't a spot on Juvia's body that wasn't sparkling…until Juvia reminded her that she had to take off the gown first or they'd be caught for attempted shoplifting.


	7. Between You and Me

**Yo everyone, I'm back! Well, not that I was _gone_, but my focus was on Gruvia Week for the past few days, which was super-fun! But now I can get back on track with The Six, and it's going to be quite a ride. :3**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 6: Between You and Me~

It might've been Gajeel's Edolas counterpart that ended up as a journalist, but Gajeel was quite adept at garnering his own information.

Being the day after he –somehow- agreed to Levy's _request,_ Gajeel knew the guild would be abuzz with news, and he wanted the scoop without having tactless jabs thrown at him. Not that anyone smart would attempt to get on his bad side- which naturally excluded Salamander, Ice Boy, and anyone who was feeling _really_ lucky.

However, Salamander had been busy blowing up for no reason and dejectedly shoveling in noodles all day, while Ice Boy went_ shopping_ earlier- and then he and the little girl returned like they'd gone through hell and back, insisting that they needed to talk to the old man in private.

So it wasn't them Gajeel needed to worry about. It was everyone else.

He hadn't seen Shrimp all day –he knew, he checked thrice- so he was positive she wasn't the source of all the needless tittering. But he perceived it all as he glided from shadow to shadow, his heightened hearing picking up his name whispered among the groups. A giggle would follow, and then would Levy's name- and it made him bristle knowing that he was a topic of such cheap gossip. Seriously, if they wanted to gush over nothing they needed to go grab a copy of Sorcerer Weekly…

"Can you believe Gajeel _agreed_?" he heard Evergreen chuckle haughtily, a shot glass perched brazenly in her hand. "I heard the rumors, but I had no idea Levy liked 'em rough…"

For whatever reason Gajeel felt his face grow hot. But he was going to deny that 'til the end of time.

"Aw, come on! T'was totally obvious!" billowed Bickslow. "They've been dancing around each since Tenrou! …literally!"

"While I am happy that they're moving upwards in the world, I fear that my calculations have been misled," remarked Freed. "I thought for sure Levy would have caved and went for Jet…seems I was gravely mistaken."

"Apparently you're the only one who thought that, given all the bets that appeared this morning," scoffed Evergreen. "I'm still in shock on how much money was poured into betting on those two…had I known it was profitable, I would have tossed in a few jewels myself!"

Gajeel continued to use the shadows to his advantage as he waited to hear more. What bets? What was moving forward? …_what _did Levy think about him?"

"Can't even call 'em a cute couple with Gajeel's ugly mug." The cackle came from Bickslow. "But after all that prediction pandemonium earlier, I guess we shouldn't be so shocked. I just wanna see what's coming to them!"

More prediction nonsense?! What poured out of Cana's damn mouth this time?!

"You two are taking far too much joy in this, although I can't say I'm not intrigued as well," remarked Freed. "Come tomorrow, we'll find out if she was correct for sure."

What? What?! WHAT-

"I told you."

Gajeel refused to admit that he flinched when his tiny cat landed on his shoulder and smugly folded his arms, his fur hiding him from view quite nicely as well. Hence why he made for such a good stakeout partner-

But this wasn't the time for that!

"You told me _nothing_," Gajeel grunted, but Lily was so not about to let that go now.

"Cana predicted six people would get together. And as of this morning, she's still pretty spot on-"

"Shaddup."

"Which means you might just find yourself-"

"Shaddup!"

"Or maybe Levy will find herself in_ your_ arms-"

"_Shaddup_!" Gajeel insisted for a third time, which inadvertently gave away his position. Evergreen and Freed glanced around curiously while Bickslow had jumped out of his chair to investigate, but Gajeel made sure he was long gone before he could be tied to the scene of the crime.

He hadn't meant to bring Lily with him, however. Might as well use that to his advantage.

"Where have you been all day?" Gajeel demanded gruffly once they were completely out of sight, desperately wanting to wipe the smug look off his Exceed's face.

"The same as you, I assume. Staying out of sight, spying on people, learning more about your and Levy's situation since_ you_ won't tell me-"

"Oi, back up there kitty," Gajeel interrupted, plucking Lily off his shoulder and holding him in front of him. "What'd you hear about me an' Levy?! Because thanks to these rumors, I'm learnin' all _sorts_ of new things about myself."

"That when you go on your date, your relationship is going to drastically improve." Lily said this like it was the most natural thing in the world. "So does that mean you_ are_ planning on making some moves tomorrow?"

"What the hell do ya mean 'moves'?! I might make a move to hit you if ya keep talking about this…"

"Fine, I'll get off your case about it," Lily stated, being reasonable yet disappointed. "…although I did hear something rather unsettling in addition to that."

"Well spit it out, cat! What, mouse got your tongue?!"

Lily gave Gajeel a long look –one moment he was telling Lily to stuff it and the next was prying for more?- but continued regardless. "I also learned that one of you will desire to push your little thing further, but the other one will be held back by something. Doesn't take much imagination to figure out which is which, huh?"

"…"

Gajeel set Lily down on the nearest object and promptly started walking away. The black cat balked at Gajeel's actions and immediately started waving his arms.

"Oh _what_?! Get back here, Gajeel! Is there something you're not telling me?"

"Yeah," Gajeel grunted, throwing a hardened look over his shoulder. "And that's that _nothing_ is going to happen between me an' Levy."

"But why are you so certain of that fact?" Lily implored, narrowing his eyes. Gajeel kept walking away. "…Stop walking away from this! Is there something I don't know about you two?"

"Our history, for one," Gajeel murmured, barely audible, but Lily definitely caught it. Miffed, Lily leapt into the air and flew back onto Gajeel's shoulder, using his tiny paws in an attempt to shake Gajeel's. Needless to say that Black-Steel Gajeel didn't even budge. His stare was locked forward- Lily was confident that Gajeel didn't have the slightest idea where he was going, but he didn't care. As long as he could walk away from whatever this was.

And Lily didn't know whether or not he should try to get him to stay.

Gajeel was adamant on being tight-lipped, even after Lily attempted a few leading questions, but eventually Lily played a rather dirty card.

"I'll go ask Levy then."

And for the second time in the span two days, Pantherlily found himself pinned to the wall, except this time it was a pure metal hand keeping him imprisoned.

"Don't. You. _Dare_."

"Yow, I must have struck a nerve there, huh?" Lily susurrated, and Gajeel only narrowed his eyes. He so wanted to do something to this cat for even attempting to pry into such personal matters…but he was aware that Lily couldn't be blamed. He didn't know the truth. He wasn't there when_ it_ all went down.

The hard edge to Gajeel's glare was so sharp that it could cut glass, but while Lily should have been rightfully scared, he wasn't. He saw right through Gajeel's sharp expression…straight into the pain he was so anxious to keep hidden from the world. It was faint, but it was there, shining through one of the very few and very small cracks in Gajeel's tough exterior.

"You're treading some dangerously_ dark_ territory," Gajeel gritted through his teeth, loosening his hold on Lily only slightly. "So you know what? Do me a favor, Lily."

Lily was silent, waiting patiently for Gajeel's request.

"…Don't make me go back down that road, a'ight?"

Lily gave him a heavy look which Gajeel returned, but the cat managed a single curt nod, taking the hint and knowing when not to cross the line. Gajeel finally let him go, but Lily was still well aware he was beyond agitated now. That look in his eyes…that wasn't going to fade away within a few measly minutes.

"Oh, it appears you've finished," came a diplomatic voice behind them, followed by a brusque cough. Gajeel blinked out of surprise and glanced over his shoulder, finding Makarov standing as stout and serious as ever. Gajeel wondered what he'd done this time…

"Whaddya want, old man? I'm not exactly in the best of moods." Gajeel made it a point to glower at Lily; Lily let him do it- whatever made him feel better.

"I only require a quick word, Gajeel. Lily can attend too, if he so wishes," Makarov asserted. His face was outright humorless, but it also told Gajeel that it wasn't _him_ who'd done something troublesome.

But there _was _trouble.

Gajeel shrugged as he and Lily followed the old man into his office; this wasn't anything new for Gajeel, as he'd had meetings like this all the time when he was working as a double agent. He still did a few odd and less than pleasant requests from time to time, and Gajeel figured this was still the case. He sat down far too comfortably in the second chair while Makarov remained standing.

"So what's on yer mind, Pops?"

Makarov murmured something about that choice of words, but instead merely shook his head as grave concern etched his face.

"I'll get straight to the point, Gajeel- you never were one for small talk," he sighed, and Gajeel only shrugged. That was only the case because he never had much to say anyway. "…I'll assume you're aware of that job Natsu, Juvia, and Levy went on?"

"I know _of_ it; next to nothing _about_ it though," Gajeel muttered. "Yet that dumb reward they earned has practically brainwashed everyone- it's disgusting."

"Levy wasn't entirely clear when she gave the debriefing yesterday morning," Lily added to clarify, after rolling his eyes at Gajeel. Makarov only nodded.

"Yes, and that was for good reason. The client specifically requested that the finer details remain between that trio and myself…but as this is a severe situation we're dealing with, I'm afraid I may have to breach that agreement."

"Why? What's so bad that you of all people would break a code of trust?"

Makarov's eyes were dead serious.

"Because my children are now in danger, and no amount of secret keeping is going to take priority over their safety."

Gajeel's aloofness vanished immediately- he was starting to see why the old man had dragged him in there. Heaving another sigh, Makarov pinched the bridge of his nose and hung his head.

"Gray and Wendy returned from shopping this afternoon, claiming that they were attacked by two members of an underground dark guild known as Black Thorn. Wendy said they were speaking of revenge against Fairy Tail, and after being discovered they were attacked with some rather disturbing magic."

"…They in one piece?"

"Wendy's a little worse for wear but fine. Gray took the brunt of the attacks, but even without Wendy's assistance he's always been a fast healer. Nothing that won't be mostly cleared up by tomorrow, but still…" Makarov's eyes darkened. "…that was more than likely just a warning of the lowest caliber."

_Warnings_. That dredged up some unsavory memories with Gajeel, that was for sure. Especially after Lily's prying not that long ago…

"Why this is so troubling is because Gray said they were asking for Juvia, and were also aware of Natsu and Levy's presence at that party," Makarov continued. "This means…that Black Thorn is out for revenge against those three specifically."

Gajeel suddenly clutched at the arm rests of his seat. He knew Natsu would be more than able to beat up those sissies, and Juvia had been among the elite back in Phantom Lord- she could handle herself easily too.

The only one that warranted protection in his eyes was Levy.

"But that would only make sense if Black Thorn were the ones to infiltrate the party in the first place," Lily pointed out, although he retracted it afterwards. "…sorry. I supposed that information is still classified."

"I'm still trying to keep this as under wraps as possible- as soon as any of the other members of Fairy Tail found out, you know we'd have people going to arms against a dark guild we know so little about," Makarov rumbled. "…and it's why I'm hesitant to tell those targeted."

"_What_?!" Gajeel growled, instantly rising to his feet and easily towering over Makarov. "Ya talk all high and mighty about protecting yer children, and you're not even going to inform the ones targeted about it?!"

"I have Wendy under treatment for exposure to toxins, and Gray's already clamoring for revenge- it's been enough keeping him down. If Natsu found out, there'd be no turning back…" Makarov shook his head. "But that's why I brought you in here, Gajeel. The last thing I want is yet another guild war, yet I don't want to leave that trio unprotected. Seeing as they'll be earning their reward for the job that got them into this mess tomorrow, I'd like for you shadow them and be ready to act if necessary."

"Oi, that's a bogus plan old man! If ya had a spine you'd be acting now-!"

"And it's that reaction as to why this is _not_ to leak out to anyone; I don't even want you bringing up your task to Gray who already knows about this! You don't understand what sort of position this puts me in!" Makarov finalized. "I'm already pushing my boundaries as it is- you of all people should know what happens when an official guild gets mixed up with a dark one! You should be _well_ aware of when even two official guilds butt heads!"

Lily was shocked at how quickly Gajeel fell quiet.

"…I sincerely doubt that Black Thorn is aware of the reward that client offered, but I would just feel better knowing someone's looking out for them. Given your repertoire of tasks I've given you in the past, you are the ideal man for the job," Makarov continued slowly. "Best case scenario, nothing happens. Worst case…let's not think about that."

"Um, about that…" Lily coughed, clearing his throat and looking expectantly at Gajeel to say something. Gajeel remained silent, and Makarov raised an eyebrow. "…Gajeel's one of the ones that'll be _attending_ the date-"

"It's not a date!" Gajeel boomed, realizing too late that he'd given himself away. Gritting his teeth and sweat dropping, he turned to face the old man, whose eyebrows had knitted together in thought.

"And here I figured you'd be one of last people caught dead on such an outing," he rumbly lowly, though a mischievous smirk grew on his face. "…it must be with Levy then. A fine girl, that one is. I can see why she might have caught your eye-"

"Oi, the hell?! Where do you get off, old man?!" Gajeel screeched, much to the amusement of Lily.

"I'm the Master here, kiddo. You should know that I'm well aware of everything that goes around here. Even things I don't want to know. Just yesterday Cana was doing a fortune reading about-"

Gajeel roared and threw up his hands while Lily burst out into a fit of bellowing chuckles, unable to keep himself composed. Makarov was confused for a moment, but brushed the lightheartedness aside as he returned to pondering.

"…mmm, in any case, if you're not fully available, I'll have to talk to Erza-"

"She's already going too," Lily piped up, and Makarov gave him a bewildered questioning look. "…er, something about 'making sure Gray doesn't ruin this perfect romance'…?"

Makarov smacked his forehead and groaned to himself.

"_Of course_…and Laxus is still out of town…grah, I'll have to consult this further with Mirajane. I'm a tad disappointed you won't be able to help me but-"

"Oi, just because I've already made plans doesn't mean I'm gonna let some pompous fools ruin those plans," Gajeel growled. "They wanna get at Levy? They'll hafta get through _me_ first…"

"Don't you mean Natsu, Juvia, _or_ Levy?" Lily teased shamelessly, with Gajeel swatting at him moments later.

"You know what I mean! Levy just came to mind first because I'm her date."

"OH, so we've_ finally_ escalated to date status-?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN."

"Anyway, that's all I need Gajeel. Don't go around prodding anyone with this information, and keep a sharp eye out during your _date_, all right?"

Gajeel's following grumble was completely inaudible, but Makarov managed to salvage a "Yeah" from the mangling of language. With that, he waved the duo out of his office so he could be alone with his thoughts. Gajeel was quick to acquiesce.

"Well that was downright unsettling," remarked Lily, once they were halfway down the hall. "Perhaps we should-"

"Gotta talk to Levy," Gajeel grunted. "I need to know more about the job."

"...What? Gajeel, you just heard the master! You're not supposed to stir more trouble than necessary-"

"Never stops me any other time," grumbled Gajeel, insisting on marching ahead. Lily jumped off his shoulder, morphed into his Battle Mode, and held him at bay by the shoulders, nailing him with a killer look.

"Look, I can tell you're obviously concerned for Levy's safety, but you have to be mindful about this," Lily said sternly. "She's going to catch on that there's something wrong if you confront her the wrong way, and that's precisely what the master doesn't want to happen."

"Tch, thought you were on my side. Since when are ya such a brownnoser for the old man?"

"I'm only saying this for your sake, you idiot," Lily hissed. "If you don't take the time to think things through you'll be walking straight into a mistake! Especially when it comes to Levy. She's so smart that-"

"Oi, ya don't hafta remind me of how brilliant she is," Gajeel murmured tersely. "I _know_."

"…well given what when down with Gray and Wendy today, she'll pick up on something if you storm up to her now and start asking questions," Lily huffed. "…talk to her as soon as you can tomorrow, before the date. Get the information you need before you go out, and then it'll be fresh in your mind, plus Levy will be more inclined to think you're just looking for conversation."

"And that's only if she tells me what I wanna know."

Lily gave Gajeel another loaded look. "…it's _you_. I don't think we'll have much of a problem."

"Oi, what are ya implying _now_-?!"

There was a puff of smoke as Lily returned to his smaller form, sighing and bouncing back onto Gajeel's shoulder. He folded his arms and looked the dragon slayer in the eye as best as he could from his current position.

"Back in the office…you were acting a little weird," Lily murmured, and Gajeel groaned and started stomping down the hall.

"Here were go again with yer prying…! Keep yer nose in yer own damn business, okay?!"

Lily stopped. Gajeel was already _that_ close to blowing his lid, and Lily certainly wasn't going to be the one to do it. The Exceed wisely kept his mouth shut at this point- he'd said his piece to Gajeel and all he could do now was wait and see if it paid off.

"…never again…"

Lily's ears pricked, having thought Gajeel had let something slip.

"…no one…will get close to her…

Gajeel was getting more inaudible, and Lily wasn't_ trying_ to pry, but he couldn't help but widen his eyes when he managed to pick up on one last little part.

"…especially not me…"

. . .

Words couldn't even begin to describe how blissful Levy was feeling.

Every breath was accompanied by a lovesick giggle, and nothing could be completed without her mind drifting into thoughts of Gajeel. At points she felt like Juvia's flair for the dramatic had manifested into her, but why not? In the words of Juvia, every day was a good one, and this one definitely had a reason to be for Levy.

There was no way she could go to the guild when she was this giddy. She'd end up embarrassing herself and would be permanently red by the day's end! Thus, she pretty much spent the day milling about Magnolia by herself, indulging in all of her favorite guilty pleasures- reading books at the library, buying herself a mint chocolate chip ice cream cone, and listening to music in the park…ah, it was all perfect to accentuate her already radiant mood! There was nary a person in the world who could match her happiness right then, and she quite honestly felt like hugging herself.

"I can't _wait_ for tomorrow," she sighed delightfully, nearly skipping down the sidewalk as her feet carried her back to Fairy Tail. Levy decided she should at least pop in on the guild once that day, despite the fact her head was about to melt with all the thoughts of the date tomorrow. It had to be a dream- she still couldn't believe Gajeel had said yes! And Jet and Droy were –relatively- okay with it! Could anything honestly get better?

Levy caught herself humming as she entered the guild. But she cut that out quickly when everyone greeted her properly, despite the fact it was nearly evening and it was around the time people would normally be heading home. Subconsciously, she scanned around for Gajeel, but she deduced that he was off lurking in the shadows somewhere, preparing for the date in his own Gajeel-esque way.

Still, her smile brightened when her gaze fell onto Lucy, who was casually sitting at the table and working on a few notes for her novel. Levy immediately got overly excited and darted over; Lucy's head snapped up upon hearing her name called, then returned the upbeat grin.

"Hey, there you are Levy! I've been looking for you all day!"

"Sorry Lu- today was such a nice day and I didn't want to spend all of it cooped up in the guild," Levy explained sheepishly as she pulled out a chair and took a seat. "But the best thing happened to me yesterday, and something even better is coming tomorrow!"

"Oh really?" Lucy smirked, acting like she already knew. "And what would that be?"

Levy excitedly looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping, then leaned in and whispered, "I have a date with Gajeel."

Lucy genuinely laughed and clapped her hands. "Ha, that's what I've been hearing all day, but I figured I'd wait to hear it straight from the horse's mouth first. I can't believe you managed to ask him!"

"I know, and I thought for sure he'd turn me down! Seriously Lu, I couldn't be happier!" Levy squealed delightedly. "I think…it's a good sign. Finally, things are looking up for me! …well, for us. Gajeel and I can finally move forward again!"

"Aw, I'm happy for you guys! Considering how rarely Gajeel goes out of his way for anything, this is huge!"

"I know," Levy gushed, trying to hide her forming blush. After all, Gajeel never seemed to hesitate whenever it came to her…why'd he have to be so mysterious? But she quickly shook away her dreamy thoughts and returned her focus onto Lucy. "But enough about me- there's something else I've got to know."

Levy leaned across the table with an eager smile and a mischievous edge to her gaze.

"…did Natsu ask anyone to be his date yet? After all, I wasn't here earlier to learn anything."

"I…uh…" Levy overlooked Lucy's sudden discomposure and launched into a dramatic spiel.

"I mean, he was _so_ excited when we were on our way back from that job. I thought his smile was going to consume his face at one point! He kept saying 'This is perfect!' over and over and I've been dying to figure out why!"

Levy grinned slyly as she sidled over to Lucy and nudged her knowingly- the same way Lucy did to Gray just the day before.

"I bet it has a little something to do with who he planned to ask…!"

Needless to say, Levy had always been secretly hoping that Lucy and Natsu would end up as an item, just like almost every other member of the guild. Mirajane might have been able to claim she was the first supporter of it, but Levy was the one who knew the ins and outs of the duo. For as much as Levy talked about Gajeel, Lucy always had a mouthful to say on Natsu, whether complaining about his bad habits or praising him for his finer moments.

"Ha ha ha…well, um, truth be _told_," Lucy began, and it was impossible for Levy to miss the judder in her voice. "…he asked me."

"OH LU!" The poor table sailed to the floor as Levy knocked it out of the way in order to reach Lucy as fast as possible, attacking the blonde with a thrilled hug. "Oh, this is fantastic! It'll be like we're on a double date!"

"L-Levy!" Lucy stammered, trying get a hold of her friend. "I don't know what you and Gajeel have worked out, but Natsu and I agreed that this isn't a real date…it's just something casual and for fun."

The happiness that had been radiating all over Levy suddenly shattered. Lucy's face fell as she titled her head curiously.

"H-huh? What's wrong, Levy?"

"I just…I'm a little shocked that's all."

More like really shocked. They were seriously going as just friends…?

It'd be clear that wasn't what Natsu wanted.

The whole way home from their job had been nonstop chatter about what he and Lucy were going to do on their next job, or about how he was hoping to tell Lucy all about his many victories secured that night. Natsu never even stated it outright, but it was plain to see that Lucy was the one he wanted to be with that night.

What Levy wouldn't give to have someone acting like that over _her_.

"But hey, it can still sort of be like a double date!" Lucy reassured, trying to brighten the mood with a smile. "It'll be a Triple Date even, if we count in Gray and Juvia!"

"Yeah, I suppose," Levy agreed, although it lacked her previous enthusiasm. She fumbled with her sleeves for a moment, trying to think of a properly way to lead into her next question, but she figured it was better just to get it out right now. "Say, Lu…can I ask you something?"

"Sure Levy, what?"

Levy's demeanor went from bubbly to just plain serious.

"Don't you _want_ this to be a date?"

The question nearly knocked Lucy out of her chair, though she froze at the last moment and stared at Levy with a cadaverous expression.

"Why…what would make you say that?"

"Because it's obvious you and Natsu are way more than just friends," Levy stated boldly, holding very little back. If Lucy didn't know better, Levy almost sounded a little…jealous? "And this…this job reward…would be the perfect chance to push that relationship a little forward."

"But…I...no, no! We don't need to push anything!" Lucy exclaimed, bringing her hands to her head. "It's really nothing more than what it is; Natsu's just doing something nice for me by letting me be his plus one. It doesn't have to be more than that- Natsu agreed!"

Levy watched as Lucy leaned forward into her palms, shaking her head distraughtly.

"I already messed up once getting worked up over this-"

"Lu." Levy was still at Lucy's side, now with her hands firmly on her shoulders. She didn't want to intrude where she clearly wasn't welcome, but she couldn't just not say anything either… "Lu, I respectfully accept your choice. I won't make you do anything you don't want to, but…just…don't…don't sell Natsu short, okay?"

Lucy's eyes softened at the sentiment. "I…don't understand. Where did that come from?"

"Natsu cares about you so much Lucy," Levy stated, the smile finally returning to her face. "I just don't want you to take that for granted."

"I could never do that," Lucy said truthfully, and with the conviction present in her eyes, Levy definitely believed her. Satisfied with that, the solid script mage clasped her hands together and returned to being eager about tomorrow.

"All right then! Anyway, I was wondering how I should do my hair tomorrow. I don't want to do anything fancy because Gajeel will totally mess it up, but I don't want to do nothing either…!"

"I'm sure just a different headband would be fine- maybe something with flowers," Lucy offered. "Ooh, and a short party dress. You're too fun-sized for anything longer than that."

Levy put her hands on her hips and started to pout. "Now you're starting to sound like Gajeel-!"

"But anyway, it's getting pretty late. I'd better head back to my apartment before it gets too dark." Lucy gathered up her things and quickly swept them into her bag. "After all, I have to prep for tomorrow myself!"

"Oh, all right," Levy hummed, fixing the table that she had knocked over. "I suppose I should go hunt down Jet and Droy before they go into some sort of shock…"

Both girls shared a laugh before Lucy put a hand on her hip and winked at Levy, telling her that she was really looking forward to tomorrow before waving and sashaying out of the guild. Levy returned the wave until Lucy was out of sight, then groaned and plunked half of her small body onto the table.

Natsu had been so excited, but Lucy didn't quite feel the same way…so that made Levy think…

Did Gajeel feel the same as Lucy?

Did he really want to go, or did he feel obligated? Was it just too good to be true?

"No…he…" Levy stammered, trying to properly reason with herself. She was about to question her own decisions when she heard the clicking of high heels strutting up behind her. Glancing over her shoulder revealed an absolutely hammered Cana, yet was somehow still functioning properly. She gave Levy a leery smile before slumping limply into the chair Lucy was once in.

"Heeey Levy," Cana droned, sounding only halfway in her right mind. Levy recoiled a bit- she and Cana harbored plenty of differences in their lifestyles, and as such they hardly ever interacted. And yet here Cana was, wavering slightly in her chair as her eyes beckoned Levy for an answer to her question.

"Um, hi," Levy responded cautiously. She usually wasn't around when Cana got like this…

Cana flashed her a catlike smile and heartily hit the table as she laughed. "Aw, don't look so scared, Lev-Lev! We're all gal-pals here, ain't we?!"

"Um." Levy lacked a response for that one. "…can I ask what you are-?"

"I was actually trying to come over and talk to Lucy, but I just missed her," Cana grumbled. "I…wanted to clear something up with her."

"I see," Levy sighed, hanging her head afterwards. Cana took note of her rather depressed state and quirked an eyebrow.

"Eh? What's eating at you, hon?"

"Nothing, I'm just being petty," Levy confessed, but that only made her hang her head even lower. She wasn't sure why she was telling Cana this, but she seemed genuinely willing to listen. "It's just, when it comes to Natsu, I wonder if Lucy ever realizes how lucky she is. He shows her how much he cares and he doesn't even need to say a word…! I'd love to have a guy act that way with me…"

But she just had to fall for Gajeel, a guy whose emotions were like a steel trap, and getting caught in them would almost certainly get you hurt. She didn't want him to change –he wouldn't be Gajeel then- but…she wanted to know she was cared about too, at the very least.

"Aw, sweetie," Cana crooned, and Levy could tell for a moment that she was breaking through her drunken stupor to be completely honest. "You don't need a relationship like them. You've got one budding that no one else could ever have…and it's something perfect just for you."

Levy blinked, feeling oddly reassured at the slightly cryptic words. "You…you think so?"

"I know so," Cana guaranteed. "And don't you worry your pretty head about Gajeel or your date either- everything will turn out just fine."

Cana had slapped her hand dramatically on the table, rising to beam down at Levy with a knowing smirk.

"I promise."

With that, she took her exit, leaving behind the six of hearts on the table.


	8. Advice Where You Least Expect It

**i luv this story: **Ah, you must be that super nice anonymous reviewer from before! Nice to hear from ya again! If a guest reviewer has a lot to say, I normally respond in the following chapter, so if you ever have any questions I'm always ready to answer! :D As for the pairings, I'm really trying my best not to do the same tried and true things I've read previously, and aiming to be as canon as possible.

But the biggest thing here is definitely Nalu- usually Lucy's all flustered over her apparent crush while Natsu is overly dense. But here, Lucy's the one confused by her feelings while Natsu is well aware of his but just doesn't know what to do with them (and that's what makes him "dense"). Which, I think is more accurate, considering Lucy always tries to deny any romantic implications with Natsu...while Natsu doesn't. ;)

. . .

**Yo, we've got a pretty hefty chapter ahead of us, and with so many new followers to the story, what's a better way to thank you guys than with an update? :D **

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 7: Advice Where You Least Expect It~

It was a rather starry evening as Lucy made her way home, balancing herself on the river's edge like she normally did. Of course Plue was bouncing giddily beside her, and the gondoliers sailing by gave her their daily reminder of how she'd fall in eventually.

It was just like any other night. …Except, normal nights weren't weighted down with thoughts of a not-date date the following evening.

"Everyone's blowing this out of proportion thanks to Cana, Plue," Lucy explained, maintaining her balance as she kept to the river's edge. "…and I guess, technically so did I. But it's behind me now! Now it's just something to look forward to!"

Lucy beamed at Plue as he made his usual shaky response. They approached her apartment shortly after that, and just the sight of her home caused a wave of exhaustion to wash over her. The day hadn't been THAT tiring- just filled with Natsu's question, work on her novel, and that talk with Levy.

Guess that was all more emotionally draining than she thought.

Sighing, she carefully opened her door and poked her head through the crack…_just _to make sure there wasn't a Salamander and flying blue cat salvaging her food, a Titania shuffling through her underwear drawer…or a Gray chilling on her couch, naked for whatever reason. Thankfully, everything was just how she left it that morning.

"Good," she huffed in relief, stepping in and shutting the door behind her. "Maybe I can finally take a shower in peace…"

After closing Plue's gate and treating herself to a lecher-free shower, Lucy slipped into her nightwear and collapsed at her desk, hoping to make some more leeway on her novel. She removed her most recent pages from out of her bag and added them to the collective pile, then dragged out a fresh page and set to get to work.

Her hand remained still.

…because how could she possibly focus on the events of a made-up character's life when all she could think about what was going on in her own?! Levy's little talk from earlier was becoming a mainstay in her mind, along with what the solid script mage had been trying to imply. Was she really trying to say that Natsu thought it was an actual date even after everything?!

W-well, that's how he DID phrase it, but surely he meant it in the casual sense…? There hadn't been anything off about him since he came back from his mission- it was only after her initial unsure answer did he waver a bit, but he snapped right back to himself once she agreed. …but what had that shift in his personality meant? W-was THAT was Levy was talking about…?

"Aaaaah…AAAAAAAAH!"

She was so confused! What even was going on anymore? And why was Natsu so hard to read?!

"If…if only Mom was here…" she respired after coming down from her frustration high, glancing over to where countless letters without a receiver were locked away in a drawer. "I wonder…if she had any experience with anything like this…"

She would unfortunately never know, as she certainly couldn't ask now…but maybe there was someone _else _she could ask. Looking thoughtful, she bounced off her bed and snatched her keys off her desk. Lucy fiddled through them quickly, wondering who she should talk to. Not Loke, he'd helped enough for one day. Not Taurus…not Sagittarius…probably not Aries…definitely not Virgo…

As soon as the obvious answer hit her, Lucy winced, but now that the idea had formed in her mind, she wasn't going to back down. With a determined expression, Lucy marched into the kitchen and made the daring choice to pour herself a glass of water. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out one of her golden keys, then plunged it into the water.

"Open, Gate of the Water Bearer: Aquarius!" she shouted, just as a wild wind erupted from the little cup and blew her hair back. A loud dramatic splashing sound filled the room, and Lucy feared she would drown in her own kitchen. It finally stopped when Aquarius leaned down over her, snarling with her perpetual scowl.

"You've got _some_ nerve, Missy! What have I told you about summoning me from lowly bodies of water?!" she snapped, one hand around her urn and the other on her hip. Aquarius stared down at the slightly intimidated Lucy, until it registered that she wasn't in the midst of some battle or life-threatening situation. They were in a_ kitchen_. "…what the heck?"

Lucy was trying her best to keep it together, but talking with Aquarius had never been an easy thing.

"I-I know this is a little odd, but I'm desperate for some advice."

Aquarius blinked for a moment before her face twisted into a sinister smirk.

"Oh, what? What could you possibly want to ask?" Her eyes locked onto Lucy like she was highly vulnerable prey. "Surely not tales about how I have a successful relationship with my hunky unparalleled boyfriend, or the innumerous dates we've gone on…!"

Aquarius chuckled haughtily- she'd only been teasing, but with the way Lucy was biting her lip and nervously poking her fingers together, she realized she must've been pretty close to the mark.

"…oh you've got to be kidding me," the Water Bearer sighed, hanging her head. "You dragged me away from a perfectly fine night for something like THAT?!"

"H-Hey, you're under contract to help me when I need it," Lucy mumbled under her breath. "…and right now I need it in a way other than getting caught up in one of your water spouts."

"Well sorry, but you're only allowed to call me when you need some water to splash around; not a gossipy gal-pal," Aquarius scoffed, which only made Lucy match her scowl. Maybe this HAD been a mistake…but she really needed to talk to someone and Aquarius _did _have the experience…

Gathering her resolve, she shook off her doubts and stared Aquarius in the eye, nailing her with a challenging look.

"You don't want to talk to me one-on-one? Fine! I know what_ will_ make you talk!" Lucy fumed, whipping out another key. Aquarius noticed just _which_ key it was and immediately blanched.

"You little devil, you wouldn't-!"

"Open, Gate of the Scorpion: Scorpio!"

Aquarius winced as Scorpio emerged out of his gate, flashing his signature hand signal and sticking out his tongue. He was far more pleased at being summoned than Aquarius was, and plenty happy to see Lucy.

"Wassup, Lucy girl! What can I help ya with?"

"Hi Scorpio!" Lucy exclaimed, feeling a lot better with him around and resisting the urge to shoot Aquarius a smug look. She folded her arms behind her and started rocking on her heels. "Um, you see, I have a sort of _outing _I'm going to tomorrow-"

"Yeah, yeah, Leo was ranting and raving about it not that long ago. Aries finally got him to shut up though," Scorpio recalled, folding his arms thoughtfully as he smiled warmly at her. "Apparently this little date of yours is a big deal, nah?"

"I…wouldn't say a _big_ deal, but…I dunno, things are a little confusing, and I thought asking someone with dating experience would help." Lucy's eyes lowered sadly. "I know this is the sort of thing you talk to parents about, but I can't…exactly ask mine, you know…"

Aquarius' eyes widened at the latter part of the statement, remaining quiet until Scorpio suddenly slung an arm over her shoulder.

"Well ya needn't look any farther! I mean, there's no couple more in love than me and Aqua here! Ain't that right?"

Aquarius nodded slowly as she leaned into her boyfriend's embrace, unable to show her normally surly mood in front of him. Scorpio just tugged her tighter as he led her out of the kitchen. Now back in Lucy's bedroom, Lucy took a seat on her bed, now somewhat genuinely curious.

"How did you two start dating anyway? Surely one of you didn't win a free dinner at a fancy restaurant and brought the other along…"

Aquarius actually blushed as Scorpio's grin took up his whole face, stepping forward to jump into his tale.

"Ah, where to even begin? Aquarius had the biggest crush on me _ever_-" Lucy desperately had to hold in her sudden laughter under the icy subtle glare the Water Bearer was giving her. "-and I had my eye on her for a while, but I was never sure if making a move would be the right choice."

"You weren't confident?" Lucy gasped, legitimately surprised. "But you're so cool and collected all the time…"

Scorpio merely shrugged. "Love can turn us into completely different people Lucy girl. I mean, Aquarius was practically my best friend, and while I thought about getting together with her often, I always pushed it away, not wanting to risk the friendship we had. I wouldn't have imagined someone as unpredictable and extraordinary as her would be interested in plain old me."

"But darling, you're the best~!" Aquarius gushed out of blue, throwing her arm around Scorpio's neck and nuzzling into him. "I…admittedly, I didn't even realize what my feelings were for you for the longest time, but once I finally did, I felt like I had to try to get your attention somehow…"

"So what did you do?" Lucy asked quietly, hanging her head to avoid eye contact. The question was small and feeble, and yet Aquarius couldn't find it in her to tear into Lucy for it, even if Scorpio hadn't been there. Her expression softened as she pulled away from Scorpio, running her fingers through her long blue hair and giving it some thought.

"I…sort of tested our boundaries. We hung out often enough, but…I figured…that maybe if we turned one of our outings into something a little bit more, I had hoped it would be a nudge in the right direction. For Scorpio, and for me."

"And did anything happen?" Lucy again inquired softly.

"Admittedly, not right away, but it certainly did open my eyes," Scorpio explained with a light chuckle. "I started to see that Aquarius really did care for me more than I realized…especially when one day it just all boiled over into one huge love confession, and then what happened afterwards was-"

"Ah, okay, we don't need to disclose_ those_ details," Aquarius coughed as she hastily stepped in. She leered over at Lucy once more before sighing and gazing at the ground. "Look kiddo, the bottom line here is that everyone has a different pacing when it comes to love and whatnot. Just…beat to your own rhythm and do what you think is right when the time comes."

"And trust us Lucy girl, you'll definitely know when that is," Scorpio cackled, crossing his arms in front of him and striking his hand signal again. "Who knows? Maybe your date tomorrow will launch into something huge, simply be the start of something more, or tell you what _not_ to do. At the very least, it can't possibly be a waste of time if you treat it as a learning experience."

Lucy's eyes brightened as she took their words in- it was such simple advice, given straight from the heart…and it made so much sense too! A little cryptic, but Lucy still got it- she WAS a budding novelist, after all. She was a natural at cracking subtext.

"So I really _don't_ have anything to worry about," she whispered contently, her smile returning as she looked up at her two spirits. Overjoyed, she titled her head and clasped her hands together. "Oh, thank you SO much, guys! You have_ no_ idea how relieved I feel right now!"

"Our pleasure!" Scorpio exclaimed, even taking a bow for extra measure. Aquarius looked mildly bemused and playfully hit his shoulder. "I'm just glad I finally got to share the great tale of how two destined lovers came to be…!"

"Just don't think you can go plagiarizing our love story into that book of yours," Aquarium hummed roughly, and Lucy innocently put her hands up.

"I honestly wouldn't dream of it."

Aquarius gave her a skeptical look, but it was forgone when Scorpio announced that they should probably get going- the two of them couldn't spend as much time in Earthland as Loke and Virgo, after all. Nodding with understanding, Lucy took both of their keys in one hand and summoned both of their gates, with Scorpio being the first to take off and beckoning Aquarius to hurry- they themselves had a date to finish!

"Absolutely," Aquarius agreed, already edging towards her gate. She stiffened just before she entered though, trying really hard to resist the urge to look at Lucy. Lucy caught her apprehension however, and smiled softly.

"I really do appreciate you taking the time to do that, Aquarius. And as thanks, I won't bother you for quite a while, okay? You can have a little mini-vacation away from me."

"…yeah, okay, whatever," Aquarius mumbled hastily. "Just do me a favor and don't let that perfectly good talk go to waste. The last thing I want to see is you chicken out at the last second."

She threw a scathing smirk over her shoulder.

"Though even if the planets were to align and you manage to snag yourself a boyfriend, I doubt he'd be hotter than mine."

With a huff, Aquarius made her exit, leaving Lucy to scoff and fall backwards on her bed, tossing her keys onto her nightstand. Left in the silent serenity of her bedroom, she rolled around on her bed to readjust herself, shutting the light off and flopping on her pillow.

"Who would have thought…Scorpio and Aquarius would have started as just friends," Lucy mused, pulling her blanket over her body and getting snug. She chuckled a bit- she could definitely relate with Scorpio, with the thought of being with her best friend crossing her mind a few times, although most of the time that had been prompted by others.

But she did think about it on her own time too.

Of course, she'd quickly brush such ideas away, but most of the time, they were actually pretty nice. Sometimes, very rarely, she'd envision Natsu keeping her warm on a cold night, or other times he'd just be making her laugh on a rather dreary day. Such simple things, things they could do even just as friends, but he'd have this look in his eye that implied so much more, and her heart would swell in her chest…

"_Don't sell Natsu short, okay?"_

Lucy never, ever did. Natsu Dragneel was the absolute_ last_ person she'd take for granted. He would always come through for those he cared about, no matter what the situation. Sure, she and everyone else knew that he wasn't particularly prominent in matters of the heart, but even that shortcoming was blinded in the wake of everything that was great about him. And that wasn't even counting everything he did specifically just for _her_…

Who was the one that sent the rainbow cherry blossom tree down the river just so she could see it while she was sick? Natsu.

Who would always catch her whenever she fell, and was always the first to spring to her aid when she was in danger? Natsu.

Who was there comforting her when she had hit her lowest points on her darkest days…? Natsu.

Who was the one that brought her into Fairy Tail, and gave her a brand new start with people who unconditionally cared about her? Natsu.

Natsu. Natsu. Natsu.

Lucy wanted to sigh and shake her head as she slowly went to sleep, but instead she drifted into her dreams with a loving smile and the subtlest hint of a blush on her face.

. . .

It was cold. Natsu _never_ got cold.

Confused, he pulled up his scarf to cover more of his face as he waited for Lucy outside the restaurant, just _waiting_. Gray and Juvia had been the first to whisk themselves inside to eat, Gray acting somewhat smoother and Juvia acting much less…um, overzealous. Still, a faint twinge of resentment burst through Natsu when he glanced into the window and spied them chatting it up. Juvia's face was pink with glee and Gray was treating her exceptionally well. He looked her in the eyes when she spoke. He had pulled her chair out for and draped her coat over the back. He ordered for the both of them. And when the waiters and servers had left, they were like the ideal couple, chatting and laughing and just looking like they were in love.

Natsu felt sick. And really hungry.

Then Gajeel and Levy arrived, and Natsu was at least hoping Gajeel wouldn't suddenly gain a romantic side to himself. To Natsu's relief, he didn't- but then again, he didn't need to. Gajeel was just as crass and vulgar as ever, happily spouting insults at Natsu lacking a date as he and Levy made their entrance. Levy clung to his arm affectionately with wonder in her eyes as Gajeel guided her to a table next to Gray and Juvia, who happily waved them over without hesitation.

Now Natsu was forced to watch two couples gushing it up inside, with food, warmth…!

And someone at their side.

"N…Natsu?"

Just when Natsu was about to say "Screw it" and haul himself out of there –or grab a bite to go first- he dared to look over his shoulder, and immediately his heart raced and his pupils dilated.

Standing there in all her radiant beauty was Lucy Heartfilia.

Hardly ever did Natsu bat an eye when it came to women, and especially Lucy. She wore revealing clothes all the time, her bikinis did little to hide anything on her, and he couldn't even count how many time he'd seen her in just a towel, not to mention completely naked, and all that barely phased him. Mainly because he was far more attracted to personality than looks...but he couldn't deny how well Lucy looked right then.

She was in a maroon evening gown that resembled the one she'd been wearing the night he first saved her then hauled her off to Fairy Tail, and the spark of nostalgia alone sent pleasant shivers up his spine. But the dress itself wasn't what made her beautiful- although it certainly served to accentuate her appearance- it was her smile; bright, genuine, and showed no signs of regret in her choice of coming here tonight. Returning the grin to mask his gulp and nervousness, he coolly offer his hand to her, hoping to guide her inside like Gray and Gajeel had done with their dates beforehand.

She completely ignored it.

If the night wasn't icy already, it definitely was now as Natsu's blood ran cold, feeling his whole body go pale as Lucy glided dispassionately into the restaurant, not even bothering to spare him a glance. Regaining himself, he scrambled to enter the doors himself, only for them to swing definitively shut as soon as he tried. Two guards that looked suspiciously like Macao and Wakaba suddenly appeared to stand in front of the door, leering down at Natsu.

"Sorry, you're not permitted entrance," stated the Macao look-alike, which made Natsu go cross-eyed in anger.

"What?! But I'm the one that earned the reward- Lucy can't go in there without me!" Natsu demanded, moving to push the guards out of the way. Wakaba blew out a puff of smoke that somehow managed to knock Natsu right off his feet.

"Oi, don't worry about her- she's got someone taking care of her meal already."

Natsu was seeing red, springing back to his feet and grabbing Wakaba by the collar. Yet even with all his strength, he was unable to make the Smoke Mage budge.

"Let me in there, _right now_! Lucy's MY date, and I-"

"Heh, we couldn't let you in even if we wanted to," scoffed Macao, raising his suspiciously-placed sunglasses to give Natsu a once over. "We have a strict dress code here…and that includes pants."

Appalled, Natsu glanced down and discovered that he was left in nothing but his scarf and fire red boxers- when the heck did he turn into Gray and start subconsciously stripping?! Disregarding his lack of dress, he again tried to force his way through the entrance, but no matter what he tried he couldn't break his way through. Snarling, he gave up and quickly ran back for the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of Lucy.

Of course, there she was, laughing and having fun with the other two pairs, but there was someone next to her. Natsu couldn't make out a face as it was conveniently blocked by a large decorative plant, but whoever it was, he was like a fusion of Gray and Gajeel. An absolute gentleman and able to make Lucy admire him without even trying. And if Natsu could see his face, he'd bet every jewel in his pocket that he was _attractive_.

"What the…who IS that creep?!" Natsu snarled, suddenly banging on the impenetrable glass of the window. As if on cue, he heard the clicking of high-heels walking up behind him, and he could see Cana's reflection in the glass. He didn't dare turn around- she was the last person he wanted to see right now…right after that mystery man Lucy was currently draping herself over like a blanket.

"Turns out Lucy is involved, but thanks to you I have no idea who she's matched up with!"

Cana's words were echoic, even though she was standing right behind him with that drunken sneer of hers. Her card deck was in her bag, but there was only one in her hand, flipping through her fingers at an almost hypnotizing rate. A playing card, at that.

"Turns out Lucy is involved, but thanks to you I have no idea who she's matched up with!"

The words repeated themselves, but Natsu ignored them and tried to get a better look at that mystery guy. Yet every time he had a better angle, the mystery man would move just out of his line of sight, or Lucy would burst out laughing at something obscurely funny he said and move to put her arms around him. The fact she was _so_ enticed by a random stranger was driving Natsu absolutely mad, and not even the billowing angry flames he ignited himself with were able to warm him from the frigid night air.

"Hey…HEY!" Natsu shouted, begging to be heard over the fancy orchestrated music that was playing within. His voice was becoming desperate and frantic as he clamored at the window, his pounding getting louder and more forceful each and every time. "Lucy…LUCY!"

"I'm always right," Cana chimed behind him, still sounding so distant and far away. "Three pairs, six hearts…all in for a little romance…"

"Not with _that guy_!" Natsu wailed, continuing his assault on the poor window. His heart raced when he saw Gray and Juvia drawing close together, their lips spontaneously meeting without any warning. His breathing quickened when Gajeel and Levy proceeded to do the same, getting even more into it than the previous pair. Pure horror crossed his face when his eyes returned to Lucy, who still wouldn't even look at him- her chocolate gaze entrapped within the one belonging to that other guy. And she too leaned in way too close for Natsu's liking.

They, too, were going in for the kiss.

"NO! LUCY!"

Finally, both his fiery fists managed to smash through the glass of the window, and Natsu threw himself forward, sailing through the air among the pieces of glass. But in the next moment, everything was dark and everything was gone, and Natsu found himself hopelessly falling…to the sounds of Lucy's constant denials.

"_N-no, I'd…rather go by myself. Or at least with someone else this time… I'm free to change it up a little too, you know."_

"_It's crazy, because it can't be true…! I mean, as far as I know, you've never even been interested in the idea of love!"_

"_I can't…I shouldn't…not with…you…tomorrow…not tomorrow…"_

"_What she said doesn't even matter- this isn't a real date or anything anyway!"_

He knew this wasn't worth making such a huge fuss over…but why had those words hurt so much then? And now they were being thrown back at him, reverberating through the darkness and repeating over and over as he fell straight into the blackness.

Cana was nowhere to be found at this point, but her cards were everywhere, scattered about like snowflakes frozen in time. The only one that was still moving was coming right for him, and out of instinct Natsu reached up and snatched it in his hand, afraid to see what it would depict. Yet when he finally did flip it over, against his own will, he was met with that vile six of hearts- the accursed card that had set all of this into motion…and there was no way to stop any of it.

Natsu was left to fall through the darkness, frantically waving his arms about in a desperate attempt to grab onto something,_ anything_-!

"NAAAAAAAAH-!"

"WAAAAAAAAH-OOOWWW!"

Natsu sprang up from the table in the guild hall, swinging his arms around in flimsy self-defense of nothing at all and unintentionally whacking Happy halfway across the room. Natsu assumed a fighting pose seconds later, fearing that the darkness would come to swallow him up again…only to find himself face to face with a rather entertained Gray.

"Rise and shine, flame brain. You must've been having one heck of a dream," Gray smirked, hands in his pockets and trying to be as aloof as possible. Natsu glared at him for the rude awakening, until a different thought of horror crossed his mind. He clattered out of his chair and grabbed Gray by the shoulders frantically.

"W-wait, don't tell me it's Friday morning already…?!"

"Nope," Gray stated seriously, and Natsu heaved a sigh of relief. "…it's actually Saturday. Last night came and went; you completely missed everything. Was wondering where you were, but you honestly slept through it? Smooth move, ya hothead."

Panic welled up within the dragon slayer. "_WHAT?!"_

Natsu felt somewhat faint as Gray chided him "disappointedly" for not being present at dinner, but it was Mirajane who came to Natsu's rescue.

"Don't let Gray mess with you, Natsu- it's still Thursday night," she called over from where she was sweeping the floor. "You and Happy ate the guild dry of noodles and ended up in a food coma, so I finally had Gray wake you up so you could go home."

"Naaargh…" Natsu rubbed at his eyes as he ignored Gray snickering off to the side. "So it's still Thursday…date's tomorrow…hasn't happened yet…"

"Aye sir," Happy chimed curtly from the other side of the room, slumped upside down against the wall with his arms folded. Wincing, Natsu hobbled over and up righted his little buddy, apologizing profusely. Once Gray had his fun, he waltzed over next to Natsu and glanced at him curiously.

"Anyway, I heard you solidified your date with Lucy! _Nice_." The statement was half teasing and half actually congratulatory. Natsu merely mumbled something unintelligible, but Gray wasn't about to decipher whatever THAT nonsense was supposed to be. "O-kay, just wanted to tell you that Gajeel and I are meeting up before we get the girls…considering you're practically a withering mess right now, I figured you'd need all the bro-backup you can get."

"I am not a mess!" Natsu declared, instantly rising with Happy on his head. "I just…erm, _I'm fine_, Frostbite."

Gray narrowed his eyes skeptically. "…you sure you're all right, man? You're really not looking too well."

"Apparently I was in a food coma for half the day, that's all," Natsu grunted. "At least I was, until your dainty ice princess footsteps woke me up."

"Hey, I was checking to make sure you didn't drown in a bowl of soup. Being the idiot you are, it wouldn't surprise me," Gray scoffed. "…so tomorrow, meet up at seven?"

"Yeah, yeah, sounds fine…"

Gray gave him another doubtful look, but eventually shrugged and bid him farewell for the night. Natsu did the same, then slumped back on the floor sounding exhausted. Still on his head, Happy pawed at Natsu's fluffy hair and bent forward to be face to face.

"All right, now that that's out of way, why in the _world_ did you smack me across the room like a bug?! That wasn't very appreciated…"

"Sorry Happy; I had a…weird dream," Natsu mumbled. "Well, more like a nightmare, I guess…"

"Ooooh. Were you fighting a big scary monster that threatened to eat all the fish in the world, and that's why you were swatting your arms around like a madman?"

"Uh, no." Natsu's face gained a shade of pink. "It was about tomorrow. The, um, date."

Happy blinked for a moment, then burst out laughing. Natsu couldn't exactly glower at the Exceed while he was sitting upon his head, so he settled for angrily glaring daggers at a table instead. What in the world was that dream supposed to mean…? He was never good with hidden messages and cryptic stuff- that was always Lucy's specialty.

But he certainly couldn't go telling her about the dream! Not how she'd brushed him off like he wasn't there, not how she got far too comfortable with some perfect stranger, and definitely not how she and that dude were getting way too close for comfort and nearly ki-

"Wah ha ha! Oh man, Gray was right! You _were_ having a really good dream!" giggled Happy, gleefully taking notice of Natsu's rapidly reddening expression. "Oooh, what happened? Did Lucy kiss ya or something and you were waving your arms in a happy dance-?"

"_No_, I couldn't even-!" Natsu cut himself off. He didn't really _want_ to remember that dream, let alone share it with Happy who was already giving him a hard time over it. Happy felt Natsu slump dejectedly beneath him, and even the cat knew he wasn't in a state for teasing.

"Aye, sorry…I didn't mean anything by it…"

"I know, Happy." He reached up and petted his cat between the ears. "I guess I'm just a little unsure of what to do. Man, I've never been so out of my comfort zone…"

"Aye, I can agree with that."

Natsu sighed and rested his head glumly on his knees. "I think I might need advice from someone with a little more knowledge on this sort of thing, Happy. Given your track record with Carla, _you're_ not exactly an expert…"

"Well hmph!" Happy pouted, hopping to the ground and making a point to fold his arms. "Good luck finding someone who's sensible about these sort of things and isn't going to relentlessly tease you then~!"

"Nrrgh…"

Happy was unfortunately right- nearly everyone had already headed home for the day, and even if they hadn't, who would give up their time to help him when he was such a 'lost cause'? Normally this would be Lucy's field of expertise…except she was part of the issue in this case!

Feeling rather hopeless, Natsu fruitlessly glanced around the guild, but there wasn't anyone of significant interest. Nab was still failing at selecting a job, Max and Warren were putting a few things away, and Elfman and Evergreen were in the middle of a spat…definitely shouldn't ask them…

…and then his eyes fell upon his answer, which had just walked up and started talking to Mirajane as she prepared to close up the guild for the night. The obviousness of it all struck him like lightning.

"YOU!" Impulsive, spontaneous, and hyperactive as ever, Natsu darted over like his life depended on it, whisking his person of interest away from Mirajane the moment the conversation ended, and loosening his hold once they were away from everyone else. "I-I…sorry, I'm a little worked up. I know this is kinda sudden, but you must have heard about the 'big date' I'm going on tomorrow, and I…"

He gulped. Probably should have taken the time to sort out what he was going to say, but it was too late now. Time to roll with it.

"…I need a little guidance. I have_ no_ idea what I'm doing, and I don't want to unintentionally ruin anything with Lucy." Natsu's eyes wavered for a moment before casting them at the ground. "I-I mean, you know me pretty well, and are far more in tune with this stuff than I'll ever be…"

He steeled himself and lifted his gaze again, tightly curling his hand into a fist.

"So with that being said…can you help me…?"

"You're asking for help? This_ must_ be serious." The immediate statement was followed by a melodic giggle and a calming smile. "But of course I'll help! Did you even need to ask?"

Natsu relaxed a little and smiled himself. If there was ever anyone who could help him work this all out…it was _definitely _Lisanna.

* * *

**"Oh no, _Lisanna_!_?!_ Not THAT tramp! Now she's going to swoop in, get Lucy kicked off the team, make Lucy quit the guild and become a dragon slayer, marry Natsu, and defy all logic! WHY?!"**

**Spoiler alert: None of that happens. But feel free to speculate. **


	9. The Morning Of

**iluvthisstory: **Anonymous or not, it's always great to hear how people are liking the story, so thanks again for leaving a quick message. :3 And I agree, it really bugs me when Lisanna is deliberately taken out of character just to fit the plot of a story. To me, that's almost like a misuse of fanfiction. :X

. . .

**Took me several tries to get Juvia's part to a tolerable point...and sorry that the chapter's more or less filler, but I kinda have to go a little slower when it's Gruvia. (But it's comiiiiiing~!)**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 8: The Morning Of~

Juvia was at the guild bright and early the following day, sitting impossibly straight in her seat, yet bouncing her foot impatiently on the ground with a silly and almost slap-happy grin on her face. There was no way, _no way_ she was going to be able to contain her excitement until tonight. She was dying to share it with someone, or at least spread it around…but her ideal person for such a thing was nowhere to be found.

Ah…where WAS Gray? She was surprised enough that she had gone all day yesterday without seeing him, but the day of their fateful date…?

As her mind started to wander, Juvia heard the doors to the guild slam open, and like a gift from above, there was her beloved, standing in the doorway with the light of the morning sun silhouetting his excellence. Hearts bubbled about her as she rose from her chair to greet Gray, calling out his name with unfiltered bliss.

"Gray-sama~!" she chimed, spreading out her arms. "Juvia was getting worried that you wouldn't show!"

Gray eventually turned in her direction, eyes glittering like the night's stars as he too opened his arms for an embrace.

"How could I not show up, knowing that perfection such as you was waiting for me?" The two gravitated towards each other, like they were being tugged by a romantic magnet pull. Even when they found each other's arms, the distance still wasn't close enough. "My only regret is that I didn't arrive sooner!"

"Apologize for nothing, my darling," Juvia shushed, placing a finger over his lips and silencing his honey-sweet words. "That I am merely in your thoughts is more than enough…"

"But it's not enough for me!" Gray shouted dramatically, spinning Juvia and dipping her, keeping her locked in place with his heavenly gaze alone. "Our date tonight shall only be a prelude to what awaits us in the rest of our lives together, sweet Juvia…and I don't want there to be a moment that goes by where you aren't at my side!"

"Gray-sama…" Juvia trailed, pensive tears dotting the edges of her eyes at this point. A rose magically appeared between his teeth and once again his shirt had vanished, but that hardened look of affection was still etched on his face.

"Nothing but the truth passes through these lips, fair Juvia…! Now, if you would do me an eternal kindness…"

He suddenly leaned in closer, the blood rushing to Juvia's face in anticipation of what was to happen next. Gray's eyes fell closed as their faces drew nearer with every passing second, Juvia feeling herself inching ever closer to her greatest desire…closer, closer…closer…

…Aaaaand…

Juvia fell out of her chair.

After landing with a pitiful thump onto the wooden floor and receiving some strange looks, Juvia popped back into her seat and turned back to Fairy Tail's entrance- apparently in reality, no one had come in. Which meant that Gray still wasn't there.

There was a twinge of doubt in her mind- would he just not show up today to avoid seeing her as much as possible until their fated outing? That would be like him…but what if this was just the first step in a ploy to avoid going on the date altogether?!

Oh no. Oh ho no no.

No…Gray wouldn't do that! Standing someone up –leaving a guild mate hanging high and dry- wouldn't be like him at all. And if he really did try to worm his way out of it, he would at least confront her directly…and probably fail, but he'd have the decency to tell it to her face.

So no, that couldn't be the issue…oh, what if he'd tripped and hit his head while getting out of bed this morning?! What if he was all alone, suffering a deadly concussion in his bedroom, silently beckoning out Juvia's name as his final plea for life?!

What if he was DEAD?!

"WAAAAAAAH!" Juvia wailed, hands flying to her head as she tossed it back and screamed. Anyone who'd been staring at her previously definitely had a reason to do so now. They were hardly another thought in her mind as she grabbed at her heart and widened her eyes.

"Oi Waterworks, what're ya doing…?"

"Gajeel-kun!" Juvia chirped, jolting in her chair at the unexpected sound of the dragon slayer's voice. At some point he managed to wind up sitting next to her without her noticing –not that big of an accomplishment- and had dubiously watched her get lost in her own little world without saying a word. And yet, his degrading look didn't bother her; in fact, she welcomed his company with a warm smile. With Gray MIA, she decided her time could be used catching up with one of her oldest friends.

"Anyway, good morning Gajeel! …you haven't seen Gray-sama this morning, have you?"

"Tch, apparently he was by earlier, but he was hardly here for a hot second before splitting," Gajeel grumbled, and to his surprise Juvia had sighed heavily in relief. "What the-?"

"He's not dead! Death won't do us part today!" she cheered gleefully, and Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"Of course not! I mean, he got a little roughed up yesterday, but it wasn't anything life-threatening-"

"What."

Both of them immediately fell into silence- Juvia wanting more light shed on just who had hurt her darling Gray, and Gajeel immediately remembered that he wasn't supposed to talk about the incident of yesterday. As Juvia had been off shopping for most the day, of course she didn't know what went down with Gray and Wendy…

"Erm…" Juvia blinked owlishly as Gajeel appeared to be struggling to pull his words together. She could tell he was beating around the bush and immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Gajeel, what happened to my beloved Gray yesterday!? Tell me, now!"

"N-nothing, jeez!" Gajeel exclaimed, holding up his hands defensively. "He and the little girl got mugged or something on the street, but they took care of it. Sheesh woman…"

"How did I not know about this sooner?! My beloved Gray is in pain and he needs me~!" she wailed dramatically, but before she could make a beeline out the door, Gajeel had grabbed her wrist and slammed her back into her seat.

"Get a grip on yourself, ya nutjob! The reason the ice pop ain't here is probably because he's a pansy and would rather sleep off his boo-boos instead of working today."

"B-but…he's supposed to come with Juvia on our date tonight…" Juvia murmured, hanging her head.

"Graaaah, I highly doubt he's gonna stand ya up, Juvia," Gajeel grunted, and Juvia brought her head back up out of surprise. "It's hours away, and he's not the sort of guy to not follow through on his commitments. Ya know that."

Juvia wrung her wrists in her lap- she certainly _did _know that, and while Gray's apparent injuries had her a little on edge, it was true that she could always count on him for anything, even things she didn't have to ask for. Gajeel took notice of her sudden apprehension and gave her a rough look.

"…well, if he ends up _not _showing, I'll pound him into the dirt for ya, especially since he was the one who talked me into meeting up with him and Salamander beforehand…" His eyes furrowed in thought. "And now that I think about it, I haven't seen that lousy Salamander yet today either..."

Juvia smiled nervously and hastily waved her hands. "Ahaha, no pounding will be necessary. Juvia would like to keep Gray-sama's face as pristine and perfect as possible."

Gajeel grunted and took out a pack of iron nails; without even blinking, he dumped them all in his mouth and started gnawing them like they were candy. Juvia didn't even flinch at all, although she would probably be better off without the vigorous crunching noises. Still, she was unable to sit still or keep her mind off her missing Gray, and since Gajeel was being_ so_ nice and giving her an ear to chat off-

"So is it true that Levy asked you to join us tonight? Macao and Bickslow were talking feverishly about it." Juvia got straight to the point as usual, making Gajeel suddenly shift in his seat as she scooted hers closer. "Ooh, she _did_! Where is she anyway?"

"Apparently last minute shopping with Bunny Girl," grumbled Gajeel, clearly wanting to avoid this subject. "_I'm_ waiting for Shrimp to get back -got something important to ask 'er."

"Ooh, do you plan on proposing?! So romantic-!"

"Oi, _no_! Something's just been on my mind, _nothing more_." Gajeel's fingers cracked as his hand formed a fist on the table. Juvia beamed and hid an impromptu giggle behind her hand- she wasn't going to pry, but seeing Gajeel get all flustered over things like this never ceased to amuse her. A conversation like this never would have been had if they were still in Phantom Lord.

"Anyway, Juvia thinks she should do something nice for Gray-sama! If he's not feeling his best, then maybe a gift will cheer him up!" She clasped her hands and practically glowed as Gajeel continued to absentmindedly gnaw on nails. "And if Gray-sama sees how much she appreciates him, then …"

"Well, it ain't an _awful_ idea," murmured the dragon slayer with a satisfying _crunch_ afterward. He swallowed his snack and gave Juvia a curious look. "Only problem is, that snowball doesn't want for much…"

"You're right," Juvia mused, but she still rose out of her seat with confident gusto. "But I know my beloved Gray better than anyone! I'll know the perfect gift when I see it, I'm certain!"

"O-_kay_," Gajeel grumbled, now moving on to some nut and bolts for a snack. "See ya later, Rain Woman-"

Juvia had left so fast she left a trail of smoke behind her. Gajeel just stared at the doors with his mouth agape for a moment, but he snapped it shut quickly and went back to his own business.

. . .

It was no secret that Magnolia was a huge tourist attraction, not to mention had a lot of locals, so naturally there was a whole street dedicated to shopping. From little family run businesses to huge markets that sat on the corners of every block, there was absolutely no shortage of things to buy. Juvia initially hoped that seeing so many ideas would make it easier to select something for Gray, but instead she only ended up overwhelmed.

"Oh dear…Gajeel really might've been onto something," she pondered to herself as she glided down the street, doing an impressive amount of window shopping. "What _do_ you get someone who doesn't want anything?"

Well, that still wasn't going to be enough to discourage Juvia, as she pranced from store to store with as much enthusiasm as when she started. As she glided about, she was blissfully unaware that she had caught someone's eye from off in the distance. It was only when she had stopped to stare at a potential shirt for Gray – with a rather boisterous "I love my girlfriend" emblazoned across the front- that Juvia got the creeping feeling that she was being watched.

"Ya gonna buy that shirt, or not?" grouched the storekeeper. Juvia snapped back into reality, then laughed nervously and placed it calmly back where she found it.

"Ahaha, no, not today…" she stammered, because on second thought, Gray would either rip it off or straight up lose it eventually. Better to get a gift that _wasn't _wearable.

Juvia darted away from that booth, no longer scouring around for a gift as she vanished into the crowd. The uneasy feeling hanging over her head was steadily growing now, and glancing slightly behind her, out of the corner of her eye, she could just_ sense_ that someone had their gaze locked onto her.

Narrowing her eyes, she slid off to the side of the crowd and spontaneously melted into a puddle, hiding herself from immediate sight while still able to watch everyone. She was expecting someone to stop and looked around confused for a moment, but when no one did, Juvia returned back to normal and sighed contently.

"Hm hm, the excitement of the date must have me a little paranoid…silly Juvia!" She lightly fanned herself and carried on. "I can't spend too long shopping though- I don't want to end up missing my date!"

"Ah, Juvia! I finally-"

"WATER LOCK!"

Out of completely nowhere, Juvia whipped around and trapped whoever had just walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder, encasing them in a huge sphere of water. The victim within thrashed and squirmed about in the liquid orb, but just as Juvia came to see who it was, the orb completely froze over, then shattered.

"Good heavens woman, do you detest me _that_ much?" gasped out Lyon, wobbly standing back up and trying fruitlessly to dry his gaudy clothes. Immediately Juvia started flailing her arms as she threw herself into a panic.

"Oh no, Juvia's sorry, Lyon-sama! So sorry, so sorry!" she squalled, now nervously looking all over the place. "Wait…was it you that was following me?"

"I tried, anyway. I only wanted to tell you hello," Lyon scoffed, only to face down Juvia's rage afterward.

"Well don't be such a creep about it! Juvia nearly thought she was being tailed by an assassin or something…! Next time, give some sort of signal instead of ogling from far away…!"

Lyon looked at her a little incredulously, until she calmed down a little and tilted her head curiously.

"What brings you all the way out to Magnolia, anyway?"

"I'm actually on my way back from a high-paying solo mission," Lyon elaborated quickly, grateful for the subject change. "But I thought I'd stop by Magnolia and grab a souvenir for Chelia. It's her birthday soon, you see."

He reached into his pocket and produced a pair of earrings that were in the shape of light pink clouds, and Juvia readily conceded that they were cute and a perfect fit for the Sky God Slayer. Lyon beamed a little at the approval, then slipped the trinket back out of sign.

"Anyway, a better question to ask is why you and your entrancing beauty are out here all alone? Is Gray nearby somewhere?"

"Hmph, Juvia _can_ do things by herself, you know," she huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "And Gray-sama admires her independence…!"

"Easy, I know that! I wasn't implying otherwise…!" Lyon held up his hands defensively. "I only meant that it's quite surprising to see a moment when I come upon you without Gray. Any other time you're irrevocably glued to his side!"

"Oh…well, Gray-sama got hurt yesterday, so Juvia thought buying a present would make him feel a little better! Plus, he agreed to go on a date with Juvia tonight, and Juvia's so excited she couldn't possibly sit around in the guild all day anyway…!"

"Well it's nice to see your boundless energy being put to good use." Lyon chuckled at her enthusiasm. "…but did you really just say that you have a _date_ with Gray?"

Juvia started subconsciously bouncing in place. "Yup! It's at the fanciest restaurant in Magnolia, and it's going to be so romantic!"

She put her hands to her face and sighed hopefully.

"And maybe, just maybe…our 'date' will evolve straight into 'dating'…!"

As Juvia giddily danced where she stood, Lyon slid his hands into his pockets and tilted his head. "Do you truly believe Gray's heart is going to completely defrost after just one date?"

"Well, no, but-"Juvia had started to agree, but she stopped herself and faced Lyon directly. "…what do you mean_ defrost_?"

"You mean you haven't realized…?" Juvia's expression clearly showed that she didn't have a clue. "Even after all this time…?"

Juvia got a little scared and took a step back. "No…what are you…?

Lyon stared at Juvia for the longest time with an almost remorseful look, but he merely sighed and nodded his head towards the end of the street.

"Walk we with me," he murmured, slowly slinking off. Juvia blinked after him for a few astonished seconds, but as she felt that Lyon had some insight on Gray, it couldn't hurt to hear what he had to say. He probably knew about Gray more than she did, with the two of them growing up together and whatnot. So with a firm nod, Juvia trotted after him like a curious puppy.

"Soooo, what about Gray?" she asked eagerly, excited to discuss her favorite topic.

"…you remember when I ran into you on the anniversary of my master's passing?" Juvia frowned slightly, but she nodded carefully. "Well the loss of her, on top of the loss of his parents, emotionally scarred Gray. It would anybody, but how Gray _coped_ with it...is wherein the problem lies."

Lyon's eyes narrowed as he walked, his stance tensing ever so slightly.

"…he closed off his heart, fair Juvia, and part of the reason I tried to sway you away from him is because I didn't want to see you get swept up in the aftermath."

"I don't believe that," Juvia stated obstinately, prudently eyeing Lyon. "Gray cares for every single person in Fairy Tail and would do anything for them! When he fights, it's with a passion and a purpose unlike any other…and he wouldn't do that if he didn't care-!"

"I didn't say he didn't_ care_," Lyon pointed out. "And yes, I'll concede that Fairy Tail is the best thing that could have happened for Gray, but haven't you noticed that he never lets anyone come emotionally close to him? He cares certainly, but at the same time he holds back."

Juvia pondered over that, and…it did admittedly make a strange sort of sense. Gray insisting that they stay just friends was one thing, but he always seemed somewhat indifferent to the girls of Fairy Tail most of the time, while he was always ready to pick a fight with one of the guys. She had always supposed that was just how Gray was, not putting any one person over another…but she never realized that, aside from a few affectionate moments with Lucy, Wendy, or even Juvia herself, he never went out of his way to get really close. It was like there was some invisible line that he always stopped short from crossing.

"But…why would he do that to himself?" Juvia whispered, more to herself than to Lyon. "Nothing makes me happier than spreading love to everyone, even in the littlest ways! Letting someone else know they are loved…it seems trivial but it does make a difference. It could reassure someone in a way they didn't know they needed."

It made so much simple sense to Juvia, so it was hard to picture how or why anyone else would think otherwise. Lyon must have sensed what she was thinking, because she soon felt his hand on her shoulder.

"Ah, beautiful Juvia…your heart is so big that it blinds your mind, and in the best possible way." A melancholy smile crossed his face for a brief moment, but then he steeled himself. "Look, don't tell him I said this, but he keeps his heart closed like that so he won't be hurt again. I've _seen _it- he'd rather give his life for someone than lose that someone and suffer the same agony all over again."

Juvia's eyes widened at the implications as Lyon's hand tensed on her shoulder.

"I think he feels that if he keeps everyone at arm's length, and something catastrophic happens, it won't internally destroy him…of course, I can't speak for him either, but it's a little something to keep in mind just the same. I don't want to see you accidentally make him snap."

Juvia was quiet for a moment, soaking in this new perspective. If all that was true…then what had she been doing all this time? Poking and prodding at Gray with shows of love; a sensation that he denied himself from feeling? He made it clear that he would tell her when she was doing something he didn't like from now on…

"So are you saying…that he will never truly love Juvia…?"

"Of course not, Juvia." The response was quick and definitive. "What I meant to get at was that if there was anyone who could melt Gray's frozen heart, it would be you."

Juvia perked up like a wilted flower coming back to life, staring at Lyon with shimmering eyes. "You…you believe Juvia too, Lyon…?"

A smug smirked twisted on Lyon's face as his hands found themselves back in his pockets. "Hey, even if_ I_ can't have you, I'd still like to see you happy. …but at the same time, I want Gray to come out of his comfort zone under his own accord. You can nudge him, but you can't _push_ him, if you catch my drift."

"Juvia…Juvia understands. She will remember this during the date." Dedication flashed across her features before she gave Lyon a teasing look. "But aww, look at you! Lyon-sama acting like such a nice big brother to Gray-sama~!"

"Bah, don't say that; I'm just keeping an eye out for him, that's all." Regardless, Lyon had the slightest busted look on his face, which had Juvia giggling.

"Well it's that…or Lyon-sama remains a Love Rival for Juvia-"

"That's not even_ close _to being the case…!" Juvia continued to laugh bemusedly until Lyon's arm suddenly draped over her shoulder. He leaned forward with a knowing expression. "Mph, but _anyway_, you said you were looking for a gift for that ridiculous grump?"

Juvia ceased her laughter and immediately nodded vigorously. A dangerous glint danced across Lyon's eyes.

"Then I _may _have a perfect suggestion."

. . .

"What…am I going to do?"

That was pretty much the center focus of Gray's mind when he returned to the guild, not feeling depressed but not terribly confident either. He did his best to drown out the heckles and taunts about the date later –basically anyone who hadn't gotten in their licks yesterday was stepping up- and instead ordered his usual drink from Mirajane and sat alone in the company of his own thoughts.

The attack from yesterday was still eating at him, especially because there was so little he could do about it. He wanted to make someone pay, but the Master was absolutely adamant on not getting even more tangled up with those guys, for various diplomatic reasons- but whatever! They were a dark guild, they clearly had a beef with Fairy Tail, and some of his closest guild mates were being targeted! …but even if Gray couldn't do anything physical, Makarov said_ nothing _about gathering information.

"Good afternoon, Gray- you seem like you have a lot on your mind."

Gray glanced back to find Wendy and Carla, and while they both looked to be in a positive mood, their physical states betrayed them. Wendy's voice was somewhat hoarse and scratchy and she seemed paler than usual, but regardless, she was still her pleasant self as she took a seat next to Gray.

"You…don't sound good-"

"That's a rather bold assertion," blurted Carla, and she sounded on par with Wendy. Wendy frowned slightly and turned back to Gray.

"While my Sky Magic nullified any lethal effects of Arsenic's attacks, it was still rather acidic, and now mine and Carla's throats are a little damaged. It's more of an inconvenience than anything, really."

"Well you shouldn't be talking then," Gray advised. "You could be messing up your throat even more…!"

"But I wanted to see how you were doing," Wendy replied with a softer tone, cuddling Carla closer. "I mean, I'll no doubt be fine, but your burn needs some attention, and I know you've got your date later-"

"It doesn't hurt anymore, and it'll probably scar, but what else is new?" sighed Gray, yet Wendy wasn't moving from her stance. "…but if you're really that concerned, I'll let you do what you need to, but remember to take care of yourself too."

"I know, I know," Wendy hummed, having already gotten that same spiel from Carla. "But I never properly thanked you for taking the hit for me. You didn't have to do that…"

"You know I'd do it again without hesitation, and for anyone else in the guild for that matter." A warm smile crawled across Gray's face as he patted Wendy's head. "So don't feel like you owe me, all right?"

Wendy nodded eagerly before dragging Gray off to the infirmary. Gray's shirt disappeared on the way over, which only made it easier for her to begin changing his bandages. The burn itself didn't look too bad, given the circumstances, but better safe than sorry.

Gray's face contorted when Wendy started using her magic on him –okay, so _maybe_ the injury still hurt somewhat- and after catching his masked pain, Wendy tried to distract him with conversation.

"The guy that did this to you…I don't want to even imagine what else he was capable of…"

"Yeah," Gray responded weakly, swallowing his winces. "But that woman was about to engulf you in the sidewalk. Injury or not, if I had been just a moment slower…"

"I just wish I could have done more, since I was so panicked and all…" Wendy nervously bit her lip. "Those guys weren't the most dangerous people we've ever faced, and yet…it really disturbed me…"

"I know; both of them had an advantage to my magic, and it was pretty unnerving…"

"But you still managed to beat them!" Wendy exclaimed, pumping her fists. "That way you came back was incredible, and I really thought Carla and I were goners…!"

But Gray grimaced and shook his head. "No, I didn't beat them- I just managed to buy us some time to get away. They're still running around out there…and they're still targeting Natsu, Juvia, and Levy." Gray narrowed his eyes. "…that's why I met up with Hibiki this morning to get some sort of information on Black Thorn."

"He's that glitzy Archive Magic user from Blue Pegasus, correct?" Carla asked for clarity, and Gray nodded carefully.

"Yeah, and I had him use that magic to get some intel on the jerks that attacked us."

"_Gray!"_ Wendy exclaimed in a shushed yet sharp tone, temporarily cutting off her magic. "Master strictly said to keep our noses out of all that bad business! He doesn't want us getting hurt unnecessarily again…"

"I know what Gramps said, but those punks had _something_ to do with that job!" Gray grunted, clenching his fist on the table. "Like I said, I only got info on the two that assaulted us, but if they were talking about going after our friends…"

He squeezed his eyes shut tight.

"…I just want to be extra careful on the date tonight, all right? Knowing all that I can won't hurt."

"Oh, so it IS a date now?" Carla teased, but the look Gray returned demonstrated that he was not in a joking mood. Sensing his graveness, she cleared her throat and changed the subject. "…all things considered, you might as well inform us on what you've found. I have half a mind to go after those scoundrels for what they did to Wendy…!"

"But thanks to Gray, we weren't hurt all that bad," Wendy beamed, giving Gray another appreciative glance. "I can't thank you enough-!"

"No thanks needed; you paid it in full and then some with your healing magic," Gray assured, but his face fell again. "Anyway, about those jerks…"

Gray was a little disappointed that Hibiki had been unable to earth any solid about their affiliation with Black Thorn, or anything on Black Thorn at all- no location or anything. Gramps _had_ said that Black Thorn was a very underground guild, rarely making themselves known at all, which in turn let them easily fly under the Magic Council's radar. Still, Hibiki had managed to gather what he could about the assailants from before they'd entered Black Thorn.

"Apparently Arsenic Hemlock is an ex-magic convict, and he was condemned for trying to conjure up a forbidden spell with his Acid Magic…and then the female, Allison Mercury, is legally insane and she has literally melted down entire cities with her Melt Magic." Gray gritted his teeth. "But the worst thing about all of this was that the only information the archive had about the guild itself…is that it's only for people like Arsenic and Mercury- escaped criminals, wizards who had done hard time in the past, or are just plain insane…"

"My word…" Carla huffed, completely aghast. Wendy shuddered in her seat.

"I can't even imagine what the Guild Master must be like..."

"Neither can I, and it's really unsettling that not even Hibiki's database knew. Couldn't even get a name, whether or not he was a wizard, or anything…!" Gray huffed. "Gramps was right- the most important information is being kept under tight wraps…"

His scowl deepened as his fist clenched.

"Just thinking about such people going after our friends ticks me off- and their main sights are on Juvia because she was the one to finish the job. That's not fair- she gets the recognition she deserves for once and now she's being targeted, and Gramps won't let me doing anything…!"

"That's quite disconcerting indeed," remarked Carla, putting a paw to her chin in thought.

"At least you know what you're up against if you run into them again," stated Wendy, although she panicked afterward. "N-not that I _want _that to happen but that -I was just- waaaah-"

"Heh, and here I thought I was concerned," chuckled Gray, calming down a little. "…I guess I'll just need to watch everyone's backs for a while, even though Gramps said they more than likely won't make a move so soon with how shadowy there are."

"It would be a rather reckless move to come after us following a happenstance clash, and without having time to come up with a proper plan of action either," mused Carla. "Under that logic, you shouldn't even have to worry about your date. It's highly improbable that they would even know about it!"

"And there is Cana's prediction, after all!" sang Wendy. "I mean, if you're in for romance tonight, then nothing bad can happen right?"

Carla put on a blank face. "Oh child, that is such a naïve way of thinking-"

"I-I was just trying to be positive…" Wendy murmured, suddenly interested in her shoes. "I just didn't want Gray to be all stressed out when he's supposed to be having fun…"

She glanced up from redoing the bandages to see what Gray had to say, only to find him frozen in his seat. Both Wendy and Carla cringed at his, ahem, cold reaction, with Wendy immediately waving her hand in front of his face.

"Gray…?"

Man, why'd she have to go and remind him about Cana's fortune?! He'd just thought Erza was using some silly joke to her advantage when she confronted him, but if even Wendy was aware of its existence and of its details, then there must have been SOME merit to it…! Great, now he WAS stressed out!

"G-Gray…?"

He really, really wasn't looking for a relationship with Juvia. He didn't hate her, and he was fully aware of her feelings for him, but he really didn't want anything like that from her.

But this date really was supposed to yield some romantic results…? How?! Why?! What did that even mean?!

"I…how am I supposed to take that…?" he uttered to himself, still staring forward at the wall. Wendy freaked and grabbed his shoulders, gently trying to shake him out of his trance. He only seemed to grow paler.

"A-ah, Gray…! Don't worry so much! It's not like one date is going to suddenly mean you'll be spending the rest of your life with Juvia, if that's not what you want…" Wendy hastily reasoned. "I'm sure there's a perfectly plausible explanation for why that-"

She interrupted herself with a rather painful-sounding cough, and that seemed to snap Gray out of his stupor. He put his hand on her to steady her; she lightly touched at her throat afterwards and gave him a watery smile.

"I _told_ you not to talk so much."

"S-sorry," she said as quietly as possible, making Gray shake his head. Wendy stared at him for the longest time before she started worriedly wringing her wrists. "Are you nervous about it?"

Well, now he was more nervous about the meaning of this whole date thing instead of the potential threat of a dark guild, but sure, he was still nervous nevertheless.

It was already late afternoon, leaving Gray with only a few fleeting hours until he was supposed to meet up with Gajeel and Natsu, and only slightly more time until his time would be devoted to Juvia. He sincerely doubted she could somehow woo him over in the short span of a single night…but he'd also known Cana for a really long time –he was one of her oldest friends- and he could say from experience that the girl was hardly ever wrong in her whole life.

And she'd staked the claim that he and Juvia were headed down a path of…of…_love_, dare he say?

So, with the greatest neutral expression he could possibly muster in that single moment, Gray Fullbuster affirmed to Wendy that no, he wasn't nervous in the slightest.

"…_what am I going to do_?"

And still his thoughts insisted on betraying him.


	10. Just Wanted You to Know

**Only one more chapter until the "date arc" starts...! And Levy is the hardest out of The Six to write for, I'm starting to realize, yet her plot is the simplest. How's that work? **

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 9: Just Wanted You to Know~

Lily, being the man-on-a-mission type he was, was never one to waste any time when there was a job to be done. He heard through one of his most valuable special connections –Mirajane- that Levy had returned from last-minute shopping, and it was imperative that he locate her before she left to prepare for the date. Frankly he was still curious about what was eating at Gajeel since yesterday, but there were far more important things that took priority. Like the fact that Levy was a target for an attack by a dark guild…and she wasn't supposed to know about it.

It didn't sit well with him, and it _certainly_ hadn't set well with Gajeel.

Levy, meanwhile, stumbled back into the guild in the late afternoon, only coming by to pick up a few things she'd left behind yesterday. Her morning was spent selecting the perfect outfit for later with Lucy, and she was secretly hoping Gajeel would take notice. Even just a little attention would be more than plenty. She felt bad that Lucy had been unable to find anything she liked, but Levy was grateful that her friend instead used that time to ensure that Levy would look _fine_.

Quote on quote, anyway.

However, just as she gathered up her things and prepared to venture back out to mentally prep for the evening's events, a flying black furball suddenly leapt into her arms, nearly causing her to drop everything to the floor. But once the unidentified flying object's head popped out of her grip, Levy broke out into a wide smile.

"Lily!" she cheered like greeting an old friend, pulling him close and coddling him further. Lily contemplated staying like that a little longer- the hug was actually quite comfortable, and Gajeel wasn't exactly the snuggly type- but there was work to be done!

"It's always a pleasure to see you too, Miss Levy," Lily managed to chirp out. Levy beamed and held him a little higher so he was at eye level.

"I thought I wouldn't see you until later! Where's Gajeel?"

"He...um, well, he would like to talk to you," Lily explained, standing in her hands with his paws on his hips. Levy curiously raised an eyebrow.

"About what...? And why didn't he come get me himself?"

"Trust me, it's better that I confronted you first," Lily exasperated, although this caused Levy's face to fall.

"Oh...don't tell me he's bailing on me...I _just_ bought a new dress-"

"No, no! Just the opposite actually. He just wants a little more…detail about the reward. So he can… _accommodate_ you better."

"Oh!" Levy's face lit back up in an instant. How sweet of Gajeel to think of her like that! "Well yeah, I still have a little bit of time to talk to him! Where is-"

As if on cue, she and Lily had been spontaneously swept away by a flash of black and gray, whisked off into an empty part of the guild. Levy barely had a chance to regain her bearings when she was practically tossed into a chair...and was immediately confronted with Gajeel's iron studded face.

"I warned you," Lily hummed reluctantly, bouncing out of Levy's lap and into the chair next to her. Levy recoiled slightly under Gajeel's intimidating stare, practically melting into the seat. His eyes were completely_ fixated_ onto her, and while she didn't know the reason for it, Levy felt so heavy that she thought she'd fall through the floor.

"Whoa, did I...do something wrong...?"

"No. What makes ya say that?" Gajeel asked normally as he kept leering over at her, only to be frantically waved down by Lily.

"You fool, give her some breathing room...!"

Realizing that maybe he _was_ a little too close, Gajeel plunked himself into his own chair…but scooted it as close as physically possible to Levy, dropped his elbows on the table, and leaned in once more. Lily smacked a tiny paw to his forehead.

"Yeesh Gajeel, what has you so on edge?" Levy asked, relaxing a little upon learning that he wasn't mad nor was he thinking about backing out of their arrangements.

"I'm not on edge, Shrimp- just a lot on my mind," Gajeel grumbled. Levy felt her heart skip a beat -what did this possibly mean?! And how was she supposed to take it?

...she should probably hear what it _was_, first.

Gajeel was never very good with purposeful direct conversation, but since he was trying, Levy sat perfectly still and waited patiently. Her heart was soaring at the endless possibilities of what could come out of his mouth, and she almost felt a little too giddy with anticipation. This was a start, and a very, very good sign…until he sputtered something about needing to know more about the mission she went on.

Th-that wasn't romantic at all…!

Levy quickly hid her dejection as she gave him a grave expression in return. "Gajeel, you know I can't disclose any specific details."

"Shrimp, this is important," Gajeel insisted with a hardened look. "Ya know I wouldn't care to pry unless I needed to."

That statement…so very Gajeel, and yet, so very not what Levy was hoping to hear.

"Wh-_what_…?"

"I told you that you were going to come on too strong," complained Lily, with Gajeel quickly to telling him to shut his trap. Levy's short lived glee was all but dead as she locked eyes with Gajeel.

"You _know_ I can't do that; that'd be a breach of my client's privacy!"

"I'm aware, but _I_ told ya this is important-!"

"And I said no! This is sensitive information we're talking about!" Levy exclaimed, now positively put off. "I mean, you've had your little missions with Master all the time that you strictly had to keep under lock and key. That's sort of how it is with me right now!"

How could she have been so stupid? She should've known any conversation he wanted to have was either about a job or finding the next person to smash into a wall. To think for a moment she would be prominent on his mind…how silly.

"Oi, come on, I don't need to know _everything_. Just some of the finer details." Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the frankly stubborn bluenette as she fisted her hands in her lap, sporting a pouting scowl that seemed unreal on her face.

"...well I'm sorry, but I can't help you. I suppose you'll have to see if you can pry it from Natsu or Juvia if you desperately want to know so badly."

She rose to leave in an agitated huff, and was on the verge of calling off the entire date, until she felt a giant hand clasp around her tiny little wrist. Levy dared to look over her shoulder- Gajeel wasn't staring directly at her, but she could still feel the intensity of his gaze. She noted that he seemed conflicted, and even Lily was a little confused, but his grip became taut and something finally tumbled out of his mouth.

"Levy, this is to protect you."

Her heart skipped well more than a beat as her face flushed- how could he say so thing like that with such a straight face?! Her eyes nearly fell out of her head while Gajeel maintained a perfect poker face, eyes still demanding the information. Levy yielded a little out of curiosity alone, and Gajeel loosened up his grip a little.

"What, exactly, are you trying to protect me from?"

"That I can't say," Gajeel grunted, although he was dying to do otherwise. Levy scrutinized him, bewildered by this strange new behavior, until her gaze rolled over to Lily.

"It'll help more than it can hurt; please just trust him when he says he only wants to help," the cat stated wisely, making Levy study at Gajeel again. She tried to get a proper look at his face- gruff and firm as always, but there was something akin to concern behind his eyes...a genuine concern that finally led her to sit back down and quietly confess what she knew.

"…fine, I don't know what's going on, but…" She brought her head up and gifted the dragon slayer with a petite, bright smile. "I know you wouldn't hurt me, Gajeel."

She missed the way Gajeel's entire body tensed; Lily, on the hand, did not…but he kept quiet as Levy began to elaborate. She took out her Light Pen and tapped the end, making the tip glow as she began to wave it about in the air.

"…like I explained Wednesday, our client was a rich nobleman. _Extensively _rich, so of course he had a target in his back...but for more reasons than one."

Levy glanced around to make sure no more people than necessary were about to hear her; thankfully everyone else was preoccupied, but it did help that the trio was in a secluded area of the guild. She was now beginning to understand why Gajeel had dragged her away from everyone else- he really did understand the need for privacy...

She smirked a tiny bit and continued to draw out her explanation, Gajeel and Lily leaning in to hear more.

"See, he used to be part of a guild, but he broke off from it when he realized he could be successful without being a wizard," Levy continued, depicting what she knew as she remembered it. "He was trying to start a new life and move away from his past in the guild, but one day he found a message left in the bushes around his mansion. It was written in code, and the only word he could decipher from it was the word 'party'."

"So in turn that made him paranoid, as being a member of his social standing, get-togethers happened in his residence fairly often," Lily remarked.

"Yes- he summoned us a few days before his next party so I could translate what the message said, as he had a hunch there wasn't anything good about it, but I managed to learn that it was a piece of a plan to ambush his next event. It sounded something like a revenge plot."

"But why'd he want Salamander and Waterworks specifically?" Gajeel asked gruffly, and Levy gave a lopsided shrug as she made a little doodle of a rampaging Natsu and lovesick Juvia with her pen.

"I think he was confident that Natsu could handle the ambush on his own, but thanks to his destructive reputation, he hired Juvia as well for…um, _damage control_. Other than that, I don't think there was any specific reasons for the pick- the three of us are as different as we can get!"

Gajeel's studded brows furrowed as he tried to make what he could of this.

"Mm, in that case, the people that ambushed the party…just who_ were_ they?"

Levy frowned and glanced away slightly. "…whoever it was, our client knew of them, but didn't reveal any specifics. I personally suspect that they were members from his old guild, but none of us knew why they were after our client. We just did our job and kicked them out, no questions asked."

The way Gajeel's face darkened afterward was incredibly unsettling, so Levy attempted to inquire about his sudden interest. His whole jaw twitched, physically struggling not to say whatever he wanted to, but eventually decided to make his escape instead.

"…don't worry about it. I've got it taken care of," he murmured, rising from the table. A bubble of concern grew within Levy as she eyed him prudently.

"Gajeel, I don't understand at all-"

"Well, if we get through this night in one piece, you won't need to." As usual, Gajeel was quick to opt out of any unnecessary conversation and started hobbling away, Lily already saddled on his shoulder. "Thanks for the intel, Shrimp."

"Y-You're welcome…" Levy flushed, looking away slightly. So, that was it? Nothing more, nothing less…just wanted his mysterious information, huh? "…I guess that's all I'm good for…"

He didn't even mention the date at all! No 'see ya later' or anything! Levy knew small talk wasn't his strong suit, let alone a lengthy discussion about anything overly sensitive, but she just wanted to know that it mattered to him a_ little_ bit. She still couldn't help but think back to how enthusiastic Juvia and Natsu were on the way home- Juvia had hearts in her eyes as she daydreamed happily about a night with Gray while Natsu…well, he didn't drop any names, but with the way his eyes had lit up and how hopeful he sounded, it wasn't hard to discern just who he was thinking about.

A shame that Gajeel couldn't be as readable, but there was nothing she could do.

"…oi, Shrimp, what's the matter with you?"

Levy squeaked and jumped a considerable height out of her seat before snapping her head over her shoulder- there was Gajeel, having apparently never left at all and leaning against a pole with his arms folded. Seeing his intent gaze on her made Levy instinctively sniffle –sheesh, she'd been that close to crying?- and asked what it was that made him think something wasn't right.

"Tch, yer scent ain't right," Gajeel susurrated afterwards, like it was something embarrassing to admit. Levy's jaw dropped slightly open before quickly composing herself.

"A-Are you attempting to imply that my odor is indicative of my disposition?"

"…I don't speak Latin or nothing, but it's all in the nose if yer curious." Levy lightly smacked her forehead as Gajeel tapped said nose. "When yer a dragon slayer as long as I've been, you can figure out lots of things through scent alone, including how people are feeling. Salamander might be able to do it too, but s'not like I need to know that or anything."

Levy blinked, genuinely intrigued, and shifted slightly in her seat to face him better. Gajeel took note of her intrigue and continued elaborating- it wasn't rare to enrapture her attention like this, but he wasn't about to lose it either!

"For instance, you smell like sunflowers when yer happy, and ink when yer upset…and let me tell ya, I ain't getting no whiff of sunflowers right now."

Levy was slightly perplexed that Gajeel had taken the time to figure that out about her –as somewhat strange as it was- until Lily piped up.

"So, is something bothering you, Miss Levy?"

"A-ah, it's nothing…I'm just being silly, I think-"

"Lies."

The frankness nearly made Levy melt in her chair. "Eh-?!"

"Your heart beats faster when you lie," Gajeel stated simply enough, now tapping his ear instead. "I can hear it."

"W-Well that's not fair! You've got me at a complete disadvantage! You can read me like an open book then!" Levy pouted in defeat.

"Gihihihi, and _you_ were the one saying reading's what you do best."

"Don't add insult to injury," Levy moaned dramatically, plunking her head on the table. Gajeel and Lily exchanged a brief look before Lily glided over to the table and Gajeel ended up sitting back down. Levy's face remained acquainted with the table.

"Seriously though, what's wrong with you? I'm not about to go on a date with a sad sack, ya know. I don't need your gloom bringing me down, so we're getting rid of it."

Levy reddened as she lifted her head up slightly, catching Lily out of the corner of her eye doing his best to not burst out laughing. She shot daggers with her eyes; he eventually caught on and hopped away to give them space…even though it was blatantly obvious he was ducking under the table. At least he was out of sight…

"Anyway," Levy sighed, sitting straight and acknowledging Gajeel. "…you _really _want to know why I'm conflicted?"

"_Yes_, Shrimp. Wouldn't be putting myself out like this otherwise."

Levy laced her hands together and beamed lightly to herself; just that little reassurance alone was enough to make her ready to talk. She smoothed out her dress and did her best to maintain eye contact- Gajeel looked rather lax, but she still had his full attention.

"Okay, in that case…tell me honestly Gajeel…are you looking forward to tonight?"

A wave of confusion washed over Gajeel- that so had not been what he was expecting, and he was caught off guard for a response. He swore he heard Lily choke on air from under the table, but he ignored that and tried to make sense of the question.

"…_that's_ what seriously bothering ya?"

"Y-Yeah. My greatest concern is that you won't have a nice time, and after seeing how into it everyone else has been, I didn't want you to be the only one not having fun. Overall I'm worried I'm forcing you too far out of your comfort zone."

Levy hoped he hadn't noticed how hot her face was getting –that was answer was _probably_ since he was just oh so attuned to every subtle thing she did!- and she found herself nervously poking her fingers together. It wasn't fair that he could be so composed no matter what, yet a few simple words had her feeling like she was made of gelatin.

"Well if I gotta be honest, I'm amazed ya even want to waste yer reward on me." Gajeel suddenly became enthralled with a random scratch on the wooden table. "I dunno what you expect out of a date with me; I can't keep no fancy conversation…"

"Ah, you don't have to do anything like that!" Levy threw up her hands defensively. "It's just that you work a lot harder than so many people in Fairy Tail, and I thought this might be a nice way for you to relax, but, um…"

Gajeel just looked on amusement- it was unusual to see the resident bookworm at a loss for words like this. Noticing that Gajeel was enjoying her lapse in thought, she pulled herself together and just spat it out.

"Well, look, I'm only trying to take your opinion into consideration, that's all." Levy made it a point to delicately tuck a stand of hair behind her ear. "And I dunno, you were all caught up with prying information from me that I thought you just weren't into the idea of the date."

Gajeel was about to point out that it wasn't a date until a small pair of catlike fangs sank into his boot. His face puckered as he nudged Lily out of the way, then turned back to Levy.

"…I won't even lie, _I'm not_, but it matters to ya so much…and I'd rather see you with that sappy smile on yer face than face down on a table drowning in yer sorrows."

"I wasn't drowning in sorrow-!" Levy corrected, and a wicked grin crossed Gajeel's face.

"Then why'd ya reek of ink so badly?"

"Sorry I can't keep track of my…mood scent?" Levy shook it off as Gajeel snickered at her. "…but it sounds to me like you just don't want to see me sad!"

"Tch, take it as you will; this guild doesn't tolerate any mopey people; I just did everyone a favor and got rid of one."

Gajeel adamantly looked away at this point; Levy rested her chin on her palm and studied him for a second. He had such an interesting way of expressing himself…he wasn't straightforward by any means, and yet somehow he was still so blunt at the same time. It was kinda fascinating.

"…huh," she mused afterward, Gajeel turning his head to address her again. "It's almost like we're on a date already, talking so easily like this-"

"Oi, oi, oi, what'd ya have to go and say_ that_ for?!"

Levy couldn't resist a giggle as Gajeel tsked and turned away in a huff, but she decided she'd teased him enough and once again gathered up her things after realizing that it was getting a little late. She hoisted her bag over her shoulder and softened her gaze at Gajeel.

"Anyway, I'd better get going- I have hair to do, shoes to choose-!"

"Gah, what's wrong with the way you are now?" Gajeel demanded, giving her a questioning look as he thunked his boots onto the table and leaned back in his chair.

"Gajeel! We're going to the fanciest restaurant in Magnolia!" Levy's hands found their way to her hips. "I _can't_ dress like this! It's too simple! Too plain! Too-!"

"_Picky_," Gajeel finished with a groan, but grunted and hung his head. "…guess I'd better haul myself to get prepped too or you'll be slinging a slew of bad words at me."

"Hey, I would never use my magic for such vulgar purposes!" Levy insisted with a squeak. Gajeel nailed her with a suggestive look; she shot it down with a glare. Chuckling, Gajeel folded his arms behind his head and rose out of his seat to see her off.

"Oi, whatever then. Me and the twin idiots will swing by to grab you girls at seven, a'ight?"

"Sounds fine!" Levy hummed, clasping her hands together. "I'm looking forward to seeing you then!"

Levy had already started skipping towards the door when she thought she'd heard a "Likewise, Shrimp."

Now, she was no dragon slayer, but she was_ pretty_ sure her hearing was rather spot-on, and she nearly tripped out the door at the acknowledgement. Hastily she turned back around, watching Gajeel and Lily make their way towards the back exit. She bit her lip- Gajeel was still so terribly hard to figure out, but…but…

Gajeel was about to vanish out of the building when he felt a soft grip suddenly latch to his muscular arm. He froze at the unexpected contact, rolling his gaze down to the uncontrollably shaking Levy. She looked like she was barely aware of what she'd just done, and while Gajeel would have preferred to pluck her off, seeing her so randomly susceptible was somewhat amusing.

"…there something you need, Shrimp? Or can you just not keep your hands off of me?"

"Eeep, _no_, I just…" Levy mumbled into his arm, desperately trying to hide her reddening face. "…thanks for doing this. I know it's outside of your comfort zone and all, but I do appreciate it…just wanted to let you know that…"

Levy was in the middle of trying to figure out what had just come over her –gads, this was so embarrassing and Gajeel would probably tease her relentlessly now!- but her heart started pounding when his other heavy hand plunked down on her head. Slightly startled, she brought her gaze up to face him, only to see him stoically staring forward.

"…like I said before, only a heartless bastard would turn you down."

The smile that spread across Levy's face was uncontainable, but she released Gajeel and let him be after that, once again bidding him goodbye until later. There was a certain glow about her as she took off out the door, and she was definitely a lot more calm than she had been earlier.

Gajeel watched her leave, then discreetly took a whiff of the air. A smirk crossed his face shortly afterwards.

Yup, nothing but sunflowers.

. . .

The walk back to their place was silent for Lily and Gajeel; Lily because the last thing he wanted to do was set Gajeel off before the date, and Gajeel because –once again- his mind was weighed down with all sorts of thoughts. How one little event could get him so introspective, he'd never know, but he couldn't exactly stop either.

Levy'd been right- their little conversation had just been like they were already on a date, and it had been so natural; not forced in the slightest. It was really strange- he had conversations sort of like that with Juvia, but that was only because he'd known her long enough to be comfortable with her. He and Levy talked often, but…never anything like that. Even stranger, it wasn't all that bad.

And that only got him thinking about Cana's prediction again.

This was dangerous. One little conversation wasn't suddenly going to propel them into a full blown romance, but if one thing led to another through the date…things could happen. She'd get ideas. Stuff would change. That damn prediction really would come true. _It couldn't_.

He couldn't fathom was she possibly saw in him, but what was clear was that she most certainly could do better…if, you know, that _was _the case.

"Gajeel, what the heck? Your face keeps twisting like you're nauseous."

"Oi-?!" Gajeel snapped, glaring over at a somewhat confused Lily. Lily quirked an eyebrow.

"I wasn't going to say anything, but it looks like you're having a very intense conversation in your head…with yourself. Unless you are just nauseous."

"No." Gajeel grunted and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Was just…thinking about later. Ya can't blame me fer that, can ya?"

"Of course not, and frankly it doesn't surprise me," Lily hummed. A sly looked crossed his features. "That was a nice thing you did for Levy though, cheering her up like that."

"Tch, I told ya it was only because I want one less thing to bother me during this dinner…" His expression suddenly darkened. "I've already got enough to think about with this whole 'dark guild' thing."

Ah yes, there was that too. What little Levy had been able to tell him –and what little she hadn't- was really driving him up the wall. Lily too looked concerned as he glided over the dragon slayer's shoulder.

"Yes, that is very disquieting…given what we know, it's clear that Levy and her group weren't aware they were dealing with a dark guild at all. Which then makes sense as to why there are people seeking revenge for their lost members."

"Yeah, thanks to their scumbag client not giving them all the details! Geez, if our hunches are correct, then that man was a member of Black Thorn! I'll skin the man alive if he's trying to pull something here-!"

"Now calm down, Gajeel," Lily told him, although now the dragon slayer was twice as ornery while the cat was desperately trying to keep him together. Gajeel's jagged teeth were gnashing together as he lumbered down the sidewalk, looking like he was constipated rather than someone who was about to go on a fancy dinner date soon. "You don't even know the full story. After all, Levy said the client had left his guild life behind and was trying to better himself. Sounds a little like someone else we know, hm?"

"Tch, this is totally different! I was never in a _dark_ guild- I just had a shady master…" Gajeel shot Lily a look. "But this isn't about me or the client- it's that Black Thorn…it had to be them that attacked the party and beat Ice Boy and the little girl within an inch of their lives."

"I wouldn't be so forward as to say an inch of their_ lives_-"

"It doesn't matter! There's nuthin' I can do, beyond making sure those dirtbags don't try anything funny tonight…" Gajeel's hands slipped into his pockets. "Shrimp's looking more forward to this than I thought, especially if her weird behavior was any indication…"

"And you aren't interested in the date's turn out yourself?"

"Mm…"

He'd been so focused on Levy, her safety, and her state of mind that he neglected to think about himself- not that he needed to, as his stance was firm on what he thought about this "date". Still, all this secrecy and prediction nonsense was driving him crazy, and he definitely didn't need any of this!

As Gajeel mulled over everything, stalling on his response to Lily, he abruptly halted in midstep, his instincts kicking in. Lily must've picked on something too, because his fur was standing on end.

"Gajeel," Lily murmured, already putting a paw on his tiny sword. "I believe we are being tailed…"

"Y'think it's a Black Thorn creep?"

"How am_ I_ supposed to know? See if you can't pick up a scent."

Grumbling, Gajeel threw his head back and out of paranoia sniffed the air. Lily plunked down on his shoulder, still ready to jump into battle at any moment, and asked what sort of scent he was picking up.

"The scent of _idiots_," Gajeel sneered, turning his arm into iron and swinging it somewhere behind him. Lily's eyes widened in surprise when it smashed into crates of fruit and two startled yelps emerged afterwards. Gajeel migrated over to the place in question and gave the remaining crates a brutal kick and sent them flying out of the way, revealing Jet and Droy quivering behind them. When Gajeel snarled in their direction, they proceeded to shudder violently, especially when he grabbed them both by the collar and hosted them into the air. They feared what he was going to do as he brought them in close, sneered in their faces…then dropped them straight into two chairs of a nearby café and folded his arms.

"A'ight, what're you two morons doing creeping around? Slinking and slithering definitely ain't yer style," Gajeel murmured, and after seeing that he wasn't going to hurt them or anything, Jet and Droy relaxed. Slightly.

"Erm…uh…we were just…looking for some food we dropped?" suggested Droy, but Jet groaned and rose out of the chair, standing eye to eye with Gajeel and not wasting a second. A mere twitch of Gajeel's face was enough to make Jet take a step back, but he wasn't standing down either.

"All we were doing was a little…reconnaissance. To make sure you're not about to ruin anything for Levy." Jet's eyes narrowed carefully.

"And you thought following me home before this not-date was a good idea…_how_?"

"W-well, we didn't think you'd notice us-" Droy started to say, only to be cut off by a look from Jet. "I-I mean, as Levy's teammates and some of her closest friends, we just want to look out for her, that's all. And…you don't exactly have the best reputation."

"Tch, tell me something I _don't_ know," Gajeel mumbled near inaudibly, making Jet tense up and Lily's eyebrows shoot up. Gajeel then found the High Speed Mage standing shamelessly in front of him, an unrelenting look on his face as he leaned in. The dragon slayer didn't budge an inch.

"Let me be absolutely clear here. Levy has shown that she holds you very high in regard, and because of that we tolerate you. We know you've changed from your previous…_ways_, but at the same time, we're not entirely comfortable with the idea of you and Levy being…_alone_."

Gajeel resisted the urge to smirk- Jet looked like he was going green in the face from the thought alone. Droy then finally gained the spine to step up and add his two cents, although he harbored a lot less malice than Jet.

"Obviously that's understandable, since…well, _you know_…" he mumbled. "It wasn't as long ago for you as it was for us, but all those years we were away from Levy, you don't know how guilty we felt that we couldn't be there-"

"And she'd chosen _you_ to take along," Jet added miserably.

"-but we love Levy more than we fear you, so since she's happy in your presence, we've learned to tolerate it," Droy continued. "It's just that Levy is really excited about this date, and we can't be hovering over her for it…a-and if you do something to hurt her; anything at all…"

Gajeel went rigid as Jet received a second wind and took over from there, even daring to poke a finger to Gajeel's chest. Gajeel didn't move in the slightest.

"We _will _make sure you answer for it. We can willingly make the effort to move beyond what you've done in the past…but give us one new reason to even suspect foul play or anything of the sort, we will find a way to make you pay!"

Lily looked up to examine Gajeel's reaction; the dragon slayer was completely stoic, and to the untrained eye, it would seem like the words had done little to get under his skin. But Lily knew better- he saw that slight flicker in Gajeel's eyes. There was the subtlest tensing of his muscles, and the minutest furrowing of his brow._ Something_ had struck a nerve deep down inside, and Lily was getting somewhat annoyed at still not knowing what it was.

And yet, it was only Lily that noticed any of this. To Jet and Droy, it was like their heavy words had plinked right off his metallic disposition as if it was nothing at all.

"Quit yer worrying- we're just grabbing a little grub, nothing more," Gajeel mumbled. Jet and Droy clenched their fists and practically snarled at him, knowing_ way_ better than that.

"Not to Levy!"

"Just don't think about trying to pull off anything funny with her, or make her upset in any way. We wouldn't know what to do with ourselves if that happened," Droy asserted, and Gajeel's fist tightened just the smallest bit. Jet's jaw clenched.

"We_ mean_ it, Gajeel."

"…yeah, I know." Gajeel tore his gaze away from them and continued on his way, not looking back for a second. "I _said _quit worrying. I won't let anything happen…and I wouldn't even deserve her anyway…"

"Damn straight," murmured both Jet and Droy, eyeing him contemptuously as he made his way down the sidewalk with an utterly taciturn set to his shoulders. Once again, Lily was completely floored at Gajeel's actions, and once again, Gajeel wasn't going to let him in on what the cause was. The dragon slayer could feel Shadow Gear –and Lily- boring their stares into his back, but there was nothing more that needed to be said.

As far as they knew, anyway.


	11. At Least Look Like You Mean It

**Quick shout out to IamInk for being SUCH a cool person, a great source for inspiration, a multi-talented individual, and overall an awesome friend! You can thank her for defeating my Writer's Block on the upcoming chapters as well. :3**

**And now, final chapter before the Date Arc! *cheers***

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 10: At Least Look Like You Mean It~

"All right, let's take from the top one more time, Natsu!" Lisanna's muffled voice called from the other side of Natsu's front door. Sighing heavily and ignoring Happy's tittering in the living room, Natsu stood straight, cleared his throat, and swung the door open, holding it for Lisanna and motioning for her to enter. She gave a light curtsey before stepping in, looking expectantly at Natsu.

"…now, how are you going to greet Lucy?" she reminded him in a hushed whisper. Natsu coughed and loosened his scarf a little.

"Good evening, Lucy. You look…radishes?"

Natsu knew he screwed something up when Happy fell over the chair in laughter while Lisanna lightly smacked her forehead and sighed. He grunted with frustration as Lisanna eventually trotted over to put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile.

"I think the word you were looking for was 'ravishing', and the accent wasn't really necessary," she chuckled blithely, which only sent Happy into more hysterics. "…but c'mon Natsu, it's only Lucy! You don't have to be so formal!"

"I know…but I don't want her to think I don't care either," Natsu mumbled, falling back to sulk on the couch and accidentally landing on Happy. Happy yelped and Natsu quickly pulled him free, although the dragon slayer didn't quite appreciate the Exceed's endless heckling of his attempts, especially when Natsu was somewhat exhausted.

He and Lisanna spent nearly the whole day 'training' for the date, although the most Natsu succeeded with was holding open doors. He couldn't remember the table etiquette, his manners weren't the best, and whenever they tried roleplaying a 'typical date conversation' Natsu could never seem to stay on topic. Happy was having a field day with Natsu's conga line of failures while Lisanna tried to encourage him that perhaps things would come naturally when the real thing happened.

"You'll be fine," Lisanna reinforced once again after seeing Natsu's dejected look. "Um, should we go over the table etiquette again? You _were _a little shaky there-"

"Why bother teaching him how to use a fork? He'll inhale the whole meal before Lucy can even get a bite!" squalled Happy, cuing Natsu to flash his fangs and get in his cat's face.

"Oh yeah, like you're one to talk! You're just as bad as me!"

"Aye maybe, but just _who_ did I pick up that habit from?!"

As they threw themselves into an even deeper argument, Lisanna watched them go at it with a faraway smile.

"The same as ever, I see…" she mused happily as she checked the clock. After catching sight of what time it was, she clapped her hands to catch the boys' attention. "Hey, we're running out of time, so maybe you should start getting ready. Besides, I need to make sure you put on your suit right."

"Oh _hey_, I've dressed up nice by myself before," Natsu whined. "But, um…I…I…"

**Two Minutes Later**-

"Natsu Dragneel…why didn't you tell me sooner that you don't have _anything to wear_?!"

It was bad enough Lisanna was desperately digging through Natsu's clothes, but when all she had to search through were white pants and black coats, Natsu was just left to sit on his hammock and stew in rare embarrassment. After she'd spent all her time that day teaching him everything she could about proper etiquette on a dinner date and how to respectfully treat Lucy, he didn't want her last impression to be that he couldn't even scrounge together the appropriate attire…!

"Seriously, why didn't you tell me?" Lisanna asked evenly enough, Natsu urgently trying to escape her stare with his scarf. He had honestly _forgot_, considering that clothes were seldom a concrete thought in his hyperactive mind and frankly the last thing he was thinking about that day. "We could've went shopping for something! I would have even paid for it!"

"But the gentleman normally pays…" Natsu droned, remembering one of the tips she'd pounded into his head earlier. Lisanna sighed and brought a hand to her head.

"Oh dear…everything we did today will have been useless if you can't even dress the part…"

"Sorry," Natsu murmured, almost sounding like a scolded child; Lisanna always did have that motherly effect to her. But the true problem here was that there wasn't much time until the date, and even less before he was supposed to meet with Gray and Gajeel…!

Why was nothing going his way?!

"Guess you didn't think that one through very well," Happy hummed unhelpfully, which only resulted in Natsu bemoaning over his circumstances and crashing to the ground in a hopeless heap.

"Lucy's going to _kill_ me if I don't look presentable."

"What happened to those clothes you wore to that one party a while back? At least that'd be something," Lisanna inquired, but Natsu hastily shook his head.

"I borrowed those, and my client provided my outfit for Tuesday's job. Since when do I have a need for anything fancy otherwise?"

"Since when you're going on a date with Lucy and you liiiiiike her~!"

"Please. Stop," Natsu moaned, blushing into the white carpet. "She's made it clear she doesn't want anything funny to happen, and I gotta respect that-"

"But Cana's prediction!" Happy insisted, waving his arms about. "You're not just going to forget about that, are ya?!"

"I can definitely forget about if it I have nothing to wear."

Lisanna knelt down and patted him reassuringly, trying to come up with a solution, but Natsu hadn't given her much to work with. She wished he would relax a little, but it was easy to see that this dinner really meant a lot to him…

And now it was in jeopardy because of _lack of attire_.

"Mmph, heavens, it_ is_ a good thing I decided to check up on you then…"

A sudden burst of light erupted in the room, naturally startling Lisanna and Happy, although Natsu sprung to the forefront of the group with his hands aflame and ready to fight the intruder. However, Loke wasn't the least bit intimidated as he stood tall with his arms folded and something draped over them. There was a glare over his glasses as he shook his head at the overly feisty Natsu.

"Seriously, you snag a date with the ever lovely Lucy Heartfilia and you're not even the least bit _prepared_. Shameful."

"Ngh, what are you doing here?" Natsu scoffed, turning away from him and trying to gather up some of his dignity. Loke adjusted his glasses and sighed.

"With how well I know you, I doubted you had anything apt to wear for this date, so I decided to come by and bring you something a little more suitable. I can't have Lucy going out with someone underdressed."

"The only one that'd be underdressed would be Gray," huffed Natsu, and a bemused smirk wormed its way onto Loke's face. Still, he shook it off and hurled the clothes at Natsu, pelting the dragon slayer in the face and sending him falling back onto his hammock. Lisanna took a look at the ensemble and excitedly clapped her hands together.

"Ooh, are those from the Celestial Spirit World? That's so cool; I hear that place has a great sense of fashion!"

In the next moment Lisanna found Loke kneeling in front of her with a rose in his mouth and her hand perched gently in his.

"Ah, but my sweet, such garb could endlessly be yours…if you'd endlessly be _mine_."

"Oh _bleh_!" Natsu jeered from the closet, where he'd taken refuge to finally start changing. "Seriously, if it has a skirt, must you always chase after it?"

Lisanna covered her mouth to hide a giggle as Loke stood straight and adjusted his tie. "Well _Natsu_, it'd be nice if you saved some ladies for the rest of us…!"

"There's hardly any to go around when you swoop in and make your moves! You're absolutely shameless when it comes to Lucy-"

"Hey, as much as I like to flirt with Lucy, a spirit could never be with their owner, or any human for that matter. And you know, there has been someone else I've had my eye on…" Loke shrugged. "But don't tell Lucy that. Wouldn't want her to think she's home free."

"Now now boys," Lisanna intervened, attempting to lower the needlessly rising tensions. "Natsu, there's no need to rile yourself up anymore. You're a stressed mess as it is."

"I am _not_!"

"And besides, you should be thanking Loke for helping you out in your time of need!" the whitehaired teen added brightly. A gruff grunt came from the closet as Happy dramatically opened it, revealing Natsu in a navy blue jacket and pants with rolled up shirt sleeves, plain black tie, and a starry vest, with the stars appearing to be extra fiery. He moved to wrap his scarf around his neck, but Loke gave him a warning glare.

"…oh come on! It's my_ scarf_."

"Here, I have an idea!" Lisanna exclaimed, jogging over and taking the scarf. Instead of casing it around his neck, she draped it over his shoulders, so that way it at least looked a little more natural and didn't defeat the purpose of his tie. Lisanna beamed and clasped her hands together.

"D'aw, you look so handsome…! And…Natsu-ish."

"Natsu-ish?" the dragon slayer questioned, but he wouldn't get his answer as Loke chose that moment to slide in front of him, lowering his glasses so they could see eye to eye.

"All right Natsu, I know you're an all right guy and everything, but Lucy's really confused with her feelings right now, and I and some of her other spirits are working hard to help straighten her out," Loke said sternly, almost sounding professional- which was expected, given that he only wanted the best for Lucy. "Just…be careful with her, okay? The last thing I want to see is her get hurt."

"Yeah, me too," Natsu sighed. He then regained his confidence and nodded firmly at Loke. "But I promise…she'll come home with a smile."

Loke's face remained grim, but eventually it melted into a content smirk and a nod of his own. "All right then, that's all I ask. You kids have fun and don't get too crazy…oh, and that suit's dry clean only. Wash it before you return it."

Natsu went cross-eyed. "Wait, what-?"

"_Kidding,"_ Loke chuckled. "Keep it. I'd feel bad if I didn't let you keep _something_ tasteful in that so-called closet of yours…"

Lisanna was trying really hard not to laugh as Loke wished him the best of luck and saluted him goodbye, warping back to the Celestial Spirit World. Natsu just stared at the spot where he'd vanished and shook his head.

"Well, that was weird."

"Aw, I thought it was sweet that he went out of his way to help you," Lisanna hummed as Happy climbed onto the hammock to listen to the impending conversation. Natsu just huffed and folded his arms.

"It was probably just a ploy to get another opportunity to mock me- he's always been so coy and smooth with women and it's overbearing sometimes."

"Well it's a good thing _you're_ not like that." Lisanna stepped closer to him in order to straighten out his tie. "I suppose I can't speak for Celestial Spirits when it comes to matters of the heart, but you're already well off, Natsu."

She spun him around so he was facing away from the mirror, smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes.

"I mean, you're caring, protective, have a good sense of humor, and are great with kids," she laughed. "And that's just what I've witnessed myself! Who knows what good you do when no one's looking?"

"If I'm all those great things then why am I so…conflicted?" Natsu murmured, sagging his shoulders. "I mean, I want Lucy to be happy and have fun above all else…and yet it doesn't seem like that's enough. But what more can there be?"

His eyebrows were furrowed in thought as he frowned deeply.

"You heard about Cana's prediction, haven't you? And how she said that tonight's…somehow going to be romantic…"

"Ooh yeah!" exclaimed Lisanna, clasping her hands together and contrasting Natsu's mood with her smile alone. "I think it sounds wonderful! Lucy's lucky she's on a date with a guy like you!"

"But she doesn't believe it's a date nor does she want anything…weird to happen," Natsu reminded her. "What if I do something weird?"

"You should be able to tell whether you're being weird or not, huh?" Happy chimed.

"Apparently not! I missed the signs when I first…uh, asked her out…?"

He_ really_ felt weird after saying that, and the scrutinizing stare Lisanna was studying him with wasn't helping either. He writhed uncomfortably under her gaze until eventually she snapped her fingers and gave him a light smile.

"…all right, I see the problem," she declared, spinning Natsu to face the mirror as she draped an arm over his shoulder. "Okay, now look at your reflection and tell me what you see."

"Mmph." Natsu didn't take very long to think on it. "I see a really hungry and emotionally distressed loser."

"Wrong!" Lisanna declared boldly, tightening her hold on him. "I see a man who's never backed down from any challenge, while at the same time keeping his nakama's best interests at heart! I see a boy who cares so much for his best friend that while he wants to show her just how much he cares, he doesn't want to hurt her either."

She twirled him so they were face to face now, with his expression indeterminate and hers looking entirely convinced. With a slight pucker, she poked him in the chest.

"…but Natsu, what you don't understand is that you don't have to change a single thing about yourself! You're worried about meeting Lucy's standards or whatever, but you already _have_! If you didn't, there's no way the two of you would be as close as you are!" she exclaimed firmly. "You don't realize it, but you show Lucy you care all the time without even realizing! You don't even _know_ you're doing it!"

"I..." Natsu tilted his head. "I…don't…?"

"No, and even I'm well aware that it's always been like that between you two," Lisanna affirmed, softening her tone. Glancing at the ground, she absentmindedly ran her fingers through her hair. "…you know, when I first arrived in Edolas, I wasn't sure what to make of Lucy Ashley, as I hadn't met her Earthland counterpart. But there was just something about her…the more I watched her interact with the guild, the more I realized it was like she truly belonged there, and I always wondered if Earthland's Fairy Tail ever met their Lucy."

She met Natsu's eyes and beamed.

"And I'm happy to see that she did, thanks to you."

Natsu glanced away and scratched his cheek, thinking about their completely happenstance meeting…had that one little chance encounter never occurred…

Well, Natsu didn't really want to imagine how different things would be.

"The Edolas Lucy cared about your counterpart a lot," Lisanna continued, although Natsu quickly pointed out that she had liked to beat him up more than anything. "Well, despite being really gruff, she made an emotional connection with everyone…especially the other Natsu. She was very protective of him, and there was always the tiniest hint of a blush whenever they talked…it was kinda cute."

Lisanna skipped to the middle of the room and put her hands on her hips, her smile almost as bright as the rising moon outside.

"But then I was finally able to meet this world's Lucy, and it's almost exactly the same relationship, although she's a lot gentler," she giggled, and Natsu finally managed a small smile. "I've never seen two people click like you and Lucy have- I love just watching you interact!"

"You really think there's something there…" he whispered under his breath, turning to face himself in the mirror again. He saw Lisanna come up from behind him and grab his arm, briefly reminding him of the old days.

"But my point is Natsu, if the worst happens on your date, the world won't come crashing down. Lucy is an amazingly forgiving person, and you have too close of a bond to let something so trivial break it." She smirked and nudged his side with her elbow. "And best case scenario…maybe Cana really _will _be spot on with her predictions, and something'll spark without you even knowing."

"Natsu's blushing! Natsu's blushing!" Happy sang gleefully, receiving a strained warning from the dragon slayer. Lisanna chuckled and reached up to turn his head to face her.

"…just be yourself, Natsu. Let no one else tell you otherwise."

Natsu looked amazingly thoughtful for a moment. "…so does that mean I don't have to use the forks when I eat?"

"Er, for this case you _might_ want to keep some of my tips in mind," Lisanna laughed nervously. "But don't go trying to be something you're not."

"Yeah, you're absolutely right," Natsu agreed, clenching his fist and beaming down at her. "Thanks Lisanna. I think I needed to hear some of that."

"Only some?" Lisanna teased, but returned the smile. "But you're welcome, Natsu. I'm always happy to help!"

"…no, really, thank you," Natsu said a little more seriously, putting his hands on her shoulders. "…I know that since you came back, we haven't really spent much time together, especially since we used to be so close…but seeing you so readily drop everything to help me, I'm just sorry that I-"

"Silly Natsu, there's nothing to apologize for," Lisanna hummed, gently putting a hand over one of his. "As my time in Edolas made me a bit of a different person, I'd be surprised if you hadn't changed with my absence, and it's better than I could have imagined! I mean, you still fight with Gray and Erza, but now you're an amazing team…! You've found other dragon slayers just like you, you've done so many great things…"

She gave his hand a light squeeze.

"And seeing that you've become fantastic friends with Lucy…you don't know how happy I was to see _you_ happy. Even surrounded by so many people, you used to go off by yourself and be so lonely…and now you can make a friend out of anyone and everyone, and from what I heard, that all started when you met Lucy."

Natsu took some time to count back in his head. That…actually sounded about right.

"So no need to worry about me anymore, okay? We've grown up- you've got your things to do now, and I've got mine, but that doesn't mean we'll ever stop being friends- even being in different dimensions couldn't keep us apart!"

"Yeah, you can say that again!" Natsu broke out into a wide grin. "…wow, I feel great! And here my original plan was to go beat up on Gray to feel better, but now I don't have to!"

Happy jumped around excitedly as Lisanna folded her arms in front of her and beamed.

"Does that mean you're feeling more confident about your date now?"

The wide grin stayed on Natsu's face as he punched his fist into his opposite palm, a confident spark dancing in his eyes.

"Heh, I couldn't be more fired up about it."

. . .

"I'm such an IDIOT!…what am I supposed to wear?"

Lucy's latest dilemma resided in her wardrobe. She was supposed to meet Juvia and Levy soon, but how could she when she didn't know what to wear! She assured Levy earlier that she'd just scrounge deep in her closet for some of her finer wear…but nothing seemed right!

The tragedy.

She was constantly reminding herself that this was just casual…except she _was_ going to be eating at the fanciest restaurant in Magnolia. She tried on simple outfits that hopefully wouldn't give off other implications, but then she remembered that she'd told Natsu to dress as nice as he possibly could.

She blushed upon remembering just how well he looked in a suit.

"_ANYWAY_, I need_ something_…!" she exasperated breathlessly, a plethora of shirts, skirts, and dresses flying out of closet and piling onto poor Plue. The "Little Dog" poked his head out of the top of the mound, looking rather disoriented and dizzy. Lucy lamented loudly, sitting disheveled on the floor with next to no hope.

"I never thought I'd see the day…where Natsu Dragneel managed to pull off a better outfit than me…"

"No need to fear, Princess! Virgo is here!"

Lucy's pupils shrunk and she quickly looked over her shoulder, only to find the Maiden Virgo having spontaneously appeared out of nowhere, blank faced as usual yet ready to assist. Lucy dragged herself out of the closet and gave Virgo a questioning look.

"What are you doing here, Virgo?"

"Is it not obvious? You require wardrobe assistance, and I am here to lend you some proper attire!"

Lucy took a second to register this. "You mean…you brought clothes from the Celestial Spirit World?"

"Where else would they be from, Princess?" the pink-haired maid tilted her head. "And after how Big Brother Leo was going on and on about your date, far be it from me to let you screw it up. It is about time you netted yourself a boyfriend, Princess."

"I am _not_ netting myself a-!"

"Now, hold still as you permit me to change you, Princess!"

"Wait,_ what_-?!"

Virgo quite literally tackled Lucy into the closet with little warning, and loud scuffling and shrieks were heard afterward. Plue covered his eyes to ensure he wouldn't get a glimpse of anything he shouldn't, although Virgo's garish insistences and Lucy's cries of anguish didn't exactly paint a good picture in his head. But once he heard the wrestling stop, Plue uncovered his eyes, and found Lucy marching out of the closet, garbed in a navy blue gown dotted with white spots to resemble a starry sky. It was split up the side to show a lot of leg, also showing off her silver high heels.

"I hope it is to your liking, Princess! Aries, the Gemini twins, and I hand-selected it ourselves! But if it is not to your taste, you can always punish me!"

Lucy fumed, but once she marched over to the mirror to examine the dress herself, her eyes widened in great approval, twirling about and striking several saucy poses.

"…_wow._ You guys have really outdone yourselves! Not too showy, yet enough to highlight my true essence…!"

"And knock your boyfriend out cold when he sees you," added Virgo. Lucy opened her mouth to refute this once again, but Virgo had placed a hand across her chest and performed her signature bow. "Anyway Princess, I only came to deliver your outfit. Big Brother Leo is tending to Sir Natsu as we speak, and Cancer is waiting on standby if you require a hairdo for your big date!"

"But it's Friday- Cancer's not available today," Lucy pointed out. Virgo stood straight again and folded her hands in front of her.

"Normally, that is correct. But after Big Brother Leo's rousing speech and some persuasion from Aquarius, all of us decided that we would pitch in and offer our support in any way we can. This is your night, Princess."

"I…" Lucy's eyes started to water slightly. "All of you gave up your time just for me…even Aquarius…?"

"Well, it took a bit of prodding from Scorpio, but she too was just as on board as the rest of us," Virgo explained. "We all just wish to see you happy, Princess. And with a boyfriend."

Lucy just broke down laughing, trying to prevent her tears from falling as she pulled Virgo in for a hug. Virgo stood still for a second, blinking soullessly.

"Is this some sort of punishment, Princess?"

"N-no, silly! I was just thank you for helping me," Lucy stammered, pulling away and drying her eyes. "When you get back, tell Loke, Aquarius, and all the others they have my gratitude too, okay?"

"Very well. As you wish, Princess," Virgo finalized, taking another bow as she poofed back to her own dimension. Now Lucy had a really warm feeling filling her as she admired herself from every angle in the mirror, wondering what Natsu would think when he saw her. Normally he was too oblivious to even react when he busted in on her naked, but who knew? Maybe this time would be a little different.

"Anyway, better do something about my hair before I go," she remarked, whipping out a golden key and twirling it between her fingers. "Open, Gate of the Giant Crab: Cancer!"

A radiant flash of light emerged as the gate opened and out walked the ever-mellow crab Cancer, his twin scissors twirling around his fingers all ready to go. When he glanced over to Lucy, a small smirk crossed his features as he struck a pose.

"Lookin' mighty fine, baby! They truly did a nice job of puttin' that outfit together for ya."

"Yeah, I really appreciate it- it's so much better than anything in my closet!" Lucy squealed excitedly. "You guys are the absolute best…!"

"No worries; it's always a pleasure serving you Lucy baby." Cancer whisked her into the chair in front of her vanity, then prepared to get to work. "Anything you're particularly in the mood for, baby?"

Lucy smirked, folding her arms in the chair. For some reason, she was feeling lucky.

"Surprise me, baby."

. . .

Once Lucy had completed getting ready, she gradually made her way to Fairy Hills, where she planned to meet up with Juvia and Levy before the boys decided to pick them up. Now that the night was actually here, tingles of anticipation were coursing through her veins- she was legitimately excited! It dawned on her that she really never had the chance or time to do anything like this. Being busy with her novel, world-saving missions, and just keeping food on the table, any time to treat herself was exceedingly rare.

"And thanks to Natsu this is possible," she murmured to herself, pink dusting her cheeks.

The finest food the city had to offer…a night spent with some of her best friends…and knowing her spirits were always looking out for her…

To think that she even thought about not coming!

"I don't care what Cana said; this is my night to have some fun, and nothing has to happen unless I want it to," Lucy chanted to herself, climbing up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. "No longer will I let that stay over my head…!"

Reinvigorated, Lucy entered the dorms, finding that Juvia and Levy were already waiting in the lobby. Both of them looked up as she entered, with Lucy giving them an exuberant wave and a smile. Levy jumped out of her seat like a rocket and started freaking out while Juvia's eyes were about to fall out of her head.

"Lu…! You look _so_ gorgeous!" wailed Levy excitedly, afraid to go in for a hug in case she somehow tainted her. Although it was sort of hard to mess up Lucy's hair, as it was halfway up in a bun, half draped over her shoulders with two curls at the side of her head. "That dress, your hair, your shoes…!"

"Oh stop- you and Juvia look fantastic too!" laughed Lucy, referring to Levy's warm-colored short party dress, along with her curled hair held back by a striped headband. Juvia was wearing the dress she chose earlier, and her hair was straightened out to its maximum length and practically flowed down her bare back. On her head was a small hat, which had a snowflake pin in it, and just so happened to match her necklace, earrings, and clutch purse. Erza had been thorough with the accessories…

"Well, Juvia is glad you do not look too pretty, otherwise you'd be catching Gray-sama's eye instead, and then she would have to do something about her Lover Rival," Juvia said light-heartedly, attempting a joke…with some truth mixed in.

"Don't worry Juvia- with that killer dress, Gray's eyes'll be glued to you the whole time!"

"Aaaah I'm so excited I could die!" Levy wailed again, shaking her arms in front of her. "I feel so daring…! I feel so alive…!"

Juvia agreed, feeling like she could melt just from nervousness alone. Lucy took their hands in each of hers and gave them a reassuring smile.

"Hey, no need to fret, everything's going to be fine," Lucy promised. "We've got each other, and we've got the most…erm, unique boys in all of Magnolia with us tonight!"

"You say unique, but you must admit that they all have their redeeming qualities," hummed Juvia. Lucy thought it over for a second before nodding.

"Yeah…I suppose you're right…"

Levy let out another excited scream, which Juvia joined in on because she wanted to let off some stress. Not wanting to be the only one left out, Lucy joined in too, causing all three of them to fall into chairs from laughter afterwards. It would be anxious waiting for the boys to fetch them, but at this rate it was going to be so worth the wait.

…and yet little did they know that someone -who had seen Lucy's guild mark, followed her to Fairy Hills, and had overheard _everything_ through the open window- was now in the middle of making contact with the Black Thorn guild.


	12. Let's Give Them Something to Talk About

**'Bout time, amirite? I've got a huge chunk of the next chapter done though, so the next wait shouldn't be too long. :) **

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 11: Let's Give Them Something to Talk About~

With most of the main gang gone for the night, everyone back at Fairy Tail was left to speculate and gossip amongst themselves. Macao and Wakaba in particular were arguing eagerly with Evergreen, while Kinana and Laki were discussing betting arrangements with Mirajane. It was a rather subdued form of chaos compared to times in the past until Lisanna arrived sometime later, waltzing through the doors looking a little exhausted but satisfied nonetheless. Catching her entrance, Mirajane smirked a bit and turned away from her notebook full of wagers.

"Welcome back, Sis! I was wondering if you were going to show at all today!"

"Sorry if I made you worry, Mira-nee," Lisanna replied, giving an innocent shrug. "Natsu just asked for my advice last night, and I spent today doing precisely that! He should be at the restaurant by now though."

"And here I was thinking he ended up asking you to be his plus one," Max simpered suggestively. "I figured _that_ was the explanation for why you two were gone all day."

"Oh, no no!" Lisanna hastily held up her hands defensively. "He asked Lucy yesterday! I'm very proud of how maturely he's handling all of this though! He's such a sweetheart, being so dedicated like tha-"

"…LUCY?!"

Mirajane let out a joyous scream as the guild practically exploded- if there was talk before, there was a full blown discussion now, mainly about wild speculation on whether or not this new development had anything to do with what had been foretold by Cana. Whistles and outcries alike filled the hall, with even Romeo chuckling as he sat at a table with the relaxing Wendy and Carla.

"Up until today, I never would've guessed I'd see the day when the Great Salamander went on a date." Romeo smirked before nudging Wendy. "You should've followed them to get the real story- y'know, so if they come back and try to lie you'll be able to call them out on it!"

"That would be an abhorrent disregard for personal privacy and I'd prohibit Wendy from doing so," Carla scolded as well as she could while her voice currently sounded like it was going through a blender. Wendy smiled nervously as she placed a hand to her throat.

"Ahm, I thought about going with Erza just to make sure Gray doesn't do anything reckless with his injury, but I'm sure she'll have everything under control if something happens…"

"Oh yeah, I forgot she made her own…plans," Romeo chuckled while scratching the back of his neck. "You think that's going to have any effect on Cana's predictions?"

Both mages discretely glanced over their shoulders at Cana, who was slumped over at the bar ordering her usual barrel of wine, although she didn't seem very cheery about it. Mirajane watched Cana out of the corner of her eye, as it was strange to see the Card Mage feeling so bad. Drunk or sober, she was one who rarely lost her confidence.

She already felt bad enough by causing all of this simply because she was bored and messing with her tarots. She wouldn't have put off Lucy, nor would she have interfered with whatever was going on with Natsu…not to mention that Levy was feeling insecure, and it didn't take a sharp mind to deduce what Gajeel and Gray thought about all of this. Juvia wasn't even aware of any of this!

"Aw, don't look so down, Cana!" Mirajane eventually chirped, sliding her an extra bottle of booze to hopefully cheer her up. "I'm sure everything will play out just fine! And besides, your predictions were sort of…vague…and you didn't even finish the second one!"

"It's not about whether things will turn out fine," Cana grumbled, proceeding to frown. "It's the fact that I might've gone too far with it…I might've indirectly pushed Gray into something he wasn't ready for, I'd hate to see Levy end up disappointed, and both Lucy and Natsu probably have it out for me…"

"Well I'm sure you didn't mean to interfere with anyone; you shouldn't beat yourself up so much," Mirajane pointed out. "Who knows, maybe things will go so well on the big date that the six of them will come back and thank you!"

"That is kind of a nice thought…" agreed Cana, accepting Mirajane's offered refill and taking a hefty swig of it. "I just don't want any misunderstandings to make things worse, y'know?"

Mirajane frowned sympathetically as Cana slammed the bottle onto the table, not really sure if she felt better or worse.

"I feel the way you do."

Both Cana and Mirajane blinked in surprise when the Master hopped up onto his usual spot on the counter, folding his arms and legs and looking deep in thought. His eyes were closed in a contemplative grimace, mulling over things quietly.

"I can understand being worried about how our actions in the present will affect the future. The unknown can be a dark and scary place, and while we may want an outside light to guide us through, the light we find at the end may be closer than we think. Sometimes, we don't need that outside light at all."

"…aw, Old Man, I'm too buzzed to decipher your cryptic wisdom right now," Cana pouted, with Makarov opening an eye to raise an eyebrow at her.

"What I'm trying to say is that when we make decisions, with the outside help of others or through our own judgment, there's always going to be the slightest bit of hesitation. One small move can change the outcome of our lives forever, but no matter how much apprehension we have, the power to choose is _always_ in our hands."

He then pulled something out of his sleeve and handed it to Cana. The moment it hit her hand she blanched, flipping the object over and revealing it to be the six of hearts, once again back in her possession. Confusion and even a bit of fear flashed across her expression as she looked to Makarov for answers, as she had the feeling he wasn't just talking about the stunts _she_ pulled, but he simply returned back to his meditative state.

"We carve our own paths here at Fairy Tail…you may have a map that shows possible outcomes, but we all steer our own destinies, and with that sort of power comes the possibility that we may end up off course…or, perhaps, find a new direction at that."

Mirajane smiled to herself, while Cana continued to eye the playing card with bewilderment before glancing back over at Makarov. His face was firm and serious, yet bright with conviction.

"But I have faith in my children- so long as they follow what's truly in their hearts, they can never go wrong."

. . .

This was_ it_. This was finally it. The night was young, the fire lacrimas were lighting the streets…and against all odds, _Gajeel_ had been the first to arrive at the meeting place in all of his much too anxious glory. Thankfully the streets were rather empty, so a scarce few had the chance to witness Gajeel standing on the corner, wearing the surliest scowl as he scratched indignantly at his itchy teal jacket sleeves. He was really hating the abhorrent color of the suit –"It looks so bloody tacky!"- but Pantherlily assured him that the shade brought out his eyes –and his studs- quite nicely.

"Whatever- go paint a picture, it'll last longer," the dragon slayer gritted through his teeth, only making the black cat shake his head.

"Well, it's only Levy's opinion that's going to matter, and I'm positive she'll be more thrilled merely at the aspect that _you're here_," Lily stated pointedly, adjusting the bowtie around his neck. "Now quit scowling- you'll surely peel the paint in the restaurant."

"Oi-!" Oh, Gajeel was more than prepared to tear into his Exceed, but he was halted by the sound of heckling laughter approaching him- smug, pompous, and overly amused laughter. Gajeel's attention was ripped away from Lily and redirected unto Gray, who was strolling up with his hands in his pockets and a small, twisted grin on his face.

"And here I thought I'd be the first to arrive," he snickered. "Can't say I'm not surprised to see you so overeager; I'd pick Natsu to beat me out before you."

"Don't start something with me Ice Pop," Gajeel warned, making a show of his fangs. "I'm personally shocked ya didn't show up butt naked!...tch, forget that, I'm stunned yer even here at all."

"Oh _ha_," Gray's teasing tone was gone now, replaced by a less than enthused expression, and the two fell into silence after that. Both of them were mutually annoyed that Natsu had yet to show up, but what were they supposed to do about it in the meantime? Well, Lily couldn't take them staring at random objects anymore so he coughed and grabbed Gray's attention.

"So I heard it was Juvia who gave you tonight's invitation," the cat bolstered loudly, making Gray's eyes widen. "I assume you're enthusiastic for the evening's events as well?"

"I…guess you could say that," Gray responded nervously, only to find himself assailed by the brutal expression Gajeel suddenly gained. Gray sneered back; Gajeel rolled his eyes and turned away.

"…tch, I'll never understand what she sees in a dud like you."

"Oh no," Lily sighed, hanging his head as his plan completely backfired. Gray was spontaneously next to Gajeel in a single stride, leering at the Iron Dragon Slayer disgustedly.

"Hey, you don't have any room to talk! I always thought Levy had a more refined taste in men until you came along-!"

"Hmph, sounds to me like ya wanna pick up where we left off last time!"

"Fine with me, since clearly_ you_ didn't enough from me the other day-"

"Oi, _I_ was the one wailing on yer ass! You barely left a scratch on me!"

The two of them instantly bashed skulls and snarled, getting as physically close to each other as they could without messing up their clothing. While they were busy grunting at one another and Lily was telling them to get a grip, they failed to notice Natsu and Happy shuffling onto the scene. However, as soon as Natsu saw the two of them in a heated argument, he quickly pulled his scarf over his face and tried to flee before they spotted him, but too bad he was never that subtle.

The very second the brooding dark-haired males caught sight of the pinkette, they immediately set aside their differences and surrounded their prey so he couldn't get away. One moment Gajeel and Gray were about to go at each other's throats, but oh boy, as soon as Natsu made his appearance, the two once bickering wizards joined forces to -what else?- relentlessly tease him.

"Ooooh, look who got all gussied up for Luuuuucy!"

"That is, if Bunny Girl still wants to endure a night with this sorry loser."

"Mm, I agree, Lucy may be a touch too high maintenance for him-"

"Agh, SHUT UP!" Natsu snapped, suddenly bursting into flames as he glowered at the two of them. The fact he was roasting himself alive did little to imitate his oppressors.

"Aaah, is someone all fired up to snuggle with Bunny Girl?"

"About time you grew a pair and went for it, man-"

"I haven't gone for anything!" Natsu exclaimed, with Gajeel raising an eyebrow.

"So you _haven't_ grown a pair-?"

"Pair of what? I don't remember Natsu having a pair of anything!" Happy inquired innocently, which so didn't contribute anything helpful to Natsu's case.

"Gihihihihihi!" Gajeel couldn't even produce another insult as he got lost in a fit of roaring laughter, while Gray wiped a tear away and slung an arm around the still fuming Natsu.

"All right, I think he's had enough. Now that we're all here, we'd better head over to Fairy Hills- I'm more afraid of what the girls will do if we're late than I am of this chump."

"…if we weren't in suits right now I'd so throw you into the nearest building," Natsu murmured as he wrenched out of Gray's grip and folded his arms. Still, a mischievous smirk grew on his face, which was a sight both wizards and Exceeds knew wasn't a good sign.

True to form, Natsu broke out into a full sprint down the street, leaving dust in his wake.

"Last one to Fairy Hills buys everyone milkshakes tomorroooow! Kahahaha~!"

There was a brief moment used to register what he said, but by the time Gajeel bellowed out "Aw, hell no!", Gray had already started skating down the street while Happy and Lily spread their wings to fly. Gajeel was about to sprint after them, but halted himself to continue onwards at a far more leisurely pace.

"Tch, joke's on them- I didn't splash on this cologne for nuthin'! They wanna get all worked up? Be my guest!"

. . .

Upon arriving at Fairy Hills, Natsu was all set to explode through the lobby doors and announce his overbearing presence, but Gray had tackled him and told him to wait until the girls came out of their own accord. The dragon slayer complained about having to be patient, but eventually Juvia and Levy made their way outside, both of them trying to mask their anxiousness. As Juvia was quivering between being barely solid and an unstable puddle, Levy took it upon herself to greet the boys.

"We figured it was you when the receptionist started freaking out about a flaming lunatic outside," she remarked with a slight smirk. Natsu only shrugged as Gajeel arrived, looking rather aloof as he strolled up the sidewalk. Lily made some comment about him being "fashionably late", but it sailed right over Levy's head, as she was so stunned at Gajeel putting some actual effort into his outfit that she was left gaping with her eyes.

"You clean up well yourself, Shrimp," Gajeel remarked to her wordless awe, catching her off guard. "Almost kinda hot."

"Gajeel!" Levy squealed, fisting her hands at her sides and turning away in a flustered fashion. Still, she simmered down a little as her gaze slid back to him. "…but yeah, you look nice too. Surprised you managed to put together something decent."

"Was hard squeezing all this muscle into these sleeves though," boasted Gajeel, making a show of himself as Levy hid her obvious giggle with her hand. Natsu let out a bellyaching groan before glancing over to Gray and Juvia, hoping to at least get a kick at Juvia fawning over Gray. While that wasn't exactly happening, the interaction was just as awkward as expected- Juvia was a shaky embarrassed mess, doing her best to shuffle behind the obviously shorter Levy. Gray tilted his head at this.

"She's…just a little nervous…?" Levy tried to explain, but with a grunt Gajeel had picked Levy up and moved her next to Lily, leaving Juvia to blush scandalously upon being not-so dramatically revealed. She was trying desperately not to run her gaze up and down Gray's well (and fully) dressed physique, but deciding that she'd better say something, she gave a little wave.

"Hi, Gray-sama."

"Hah…_hah_…"

Natsu, Gajeel, Lily, Happy, Levy, and even Juvia herself had to stare at Gray incredulously. Now that Juvia was fully in view, Gray had completely froze, with his face flushed and suddenly lacking the ability to move. The hair, that hat, her face, that shapely dress…!

It was all Juvia and all in a way he never expected.

"You're…pretty…" Gray murmured like he was in a trace, but abruptly slapped himself out of it. "-dressed up for tonight! That's pretty great! Looks pretty nice. Pretty much. Er, yup."

"Smooth as ice there, Snow Queen," scoffed Natsu, but Juvia just giggled and poked her fingers together.

"W-Well, Juvia thinks the same about you, Gray-sama…"

She dared to glance up at him, noticing the sharp look in his eye as he studied her with a little more attention. As Erza had said, he was astute when it came to details. Juvia bit her lip as he stepped over to her in a single stride, reaching his hand out…and admiring the pin on her hat.

"It's a snowflake," he stated obviously –as he was prone to do- and Juvia nodded cautiously.

"I-I-I….erm, well, Erza thought it was- ah, um- and you…" Unable to turn her thoughts into a properly coherent sentence, she grabbed at her forehead. "AAAAAAH, why is Juvia getting so flustered and frustrated _now_?!"

She continued to rage at herself as Gray just stared at her quietly- whether Erza had selected the accessories or not, the fact that Juvia had taken the consideration to put a little bit of him into her ensemble…it was actually somewhat sweet.

And then Gray remembered that some dark guild was out for revenge on this sweet girl in front of him.

Narrowing his gaze, Gray put his arm around the rambling Juvia's shoulders, quieting her instantly and bringing forth a new wave of excitement from her. "You…just stay close to me tonight, okay?"

Hearts burst out of Juvia's eyes. "C-Certainly! No need to tell me twice!"

Gray slightly rolled his eyes as Juvia wondered if this was all a "daydream come true".

Meanwhile, Natsu was watching everyone else and getting increasingly unsettled. Gajeel was easily impressing Levy, Gray was being effortlessly charming…and there was no Lucy in sight! Normally he wouldn't be panicked, but this was turning out just like the dream…!

Did that mean some mystery man was going to fly in out of nowhere and steal his date?!

"…Natsu?"

"Yaaaaaah! _Just_ like the dream!" the dragon slayer wailed, afraid to turn around and address the concerned voice. Levy and Gajeel gave him weird looks while Juvia out of everyone told him to pull himself together –Gray snorted- and Natsu's oversensitive hearing definitely caught her approach. Hesitant about what he might see, Natsu made a daring glance over his shoulder-

And found Lucy pouting at him with her hands on her hips, garbed excellently in her navy star dress.

"That's not how you were supposed to greet her, Natsu," teased Happy. "What happened to the radishes-?"

"LUCY!" Natsu suddenly cheered, completely ignoring Happy and attacking the blonde with a comically over the top hug. Lucy stood there confused, although she was pretty sure at least Levy was aware of her self-conscious expression.

"N-Nastu, what in the world-?"

"I'm _so_ happy you're not wearing maroon!"

And there was a beat of silence.

"The hell…?" "What was that supposed to mean?" "Juvia is confused." "How does he know what 'maroon' is?"

"Natsu, I have no idea what you're talking about," Lucy stated, trying to create some space between him and her. Happy proceeded to hover over their heads, covering his mouth with glee.

"Hmm hmm hm, he's just happy to see you~!"

"I'm just glad she's not in maroon, that's all," Natsu stated definitively, although he refused to elaborate further as he finally let her go. Lucy felt that it would be easier to just not ask about it while Juvia pouted at not having matching outfits like they did.

"Not bad, Bunny Girl," Gajeel murmured under his breath, while Gray put a hand on his hip and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah Luce, you look great!"

Natsu grinded his teeth together as Juvia immediately went from ranting about clothes to throwing herself into a tizzy about "Love Rivals". Before anyone found themselves under verbal attack, Levy stepped in to defuse the situation.

"A-_anyway_, we really need to get going," she suggested quickly, trying to get everyone back on track. "They won't hold our reservations forever, you know!"

"You heard the lady!" boomed Gajeel, raising a meaty fist to the sky as he marched off. "The faster we get this over with, the faster I can get out of this damn cramped monkey suit…!"

Juvia nodded overeagerly while Gray sensibly agreed, and they rushed to keep up with Gajeel practically dragging away Levy. Lucy was adamant on following them, until she noted that Natsu was shockingly not on her heels. Turning around, she found Natsu –and Happy- staring quietly at her with subtle smiling. Lucy recoiled slightly and winced.

"At least s-say something if you're going to stare, idiot," she strained to say. "You…you don't look at me like this normally…"

Happy covered his mouth with his paws to hide his following giggle; Natsu just blinked dumbly.

"Um, what am I supposed to say?"

Lucy's fist trembled slightly as she narrowed her gaze.

"Well, aren't you going to comment on how I look?"

"…Why would I do that? You look the same as always!" Natsu shrugged, taking her hand in his and pulling her down the street. Lucy felt a twinge of disappointment at this, but Natsu kept running his mouth before she could get out another word. "There's never a moment when you're not beautiful, Luce-what you wear s'not gonna change that."

Lucy could barely keep up with him after that- her legs had suddenly and unexpectedly turned to jelly.

. . .

With food always being served fresh at the guild hall, seldom did the wizards of Fairy Tail ever venture very far for a good meal. But when it came to eating establishments, Magnolia actually had some of the finest places, and at the top of that list was the "Sea of Dreams". Despite the tacky name, it was not to be scoffed at- the food offered there surpassed expectations and more than earned its positive reputation.

The six wizards plus two Exceeds were dwarfed by the exterior of the building, being a large fanciful purple color with blank and silver trimmings that gave it an extra sheen in the moonlight. The name of the place was spelled out in gaudy glowing letters above the roof, and could probably be seen from a hefty distance away.

But despite the fact that the restaurant could more than likely be spotted from space thanks to its overbearing presence alone, that wasn't the first thing Happy concluded about the place. His whole body locked up as realization flooded through him like a waterfall, and he was suddenly shaking with uncontrollable fervor.

"It's…it's…" Happy stuttered, frozen right at the front door. Lily placed a paw to his forehead.

"Oh, here we go-"

"IT'S FULL OF FIIIIIIIIISH!"

The group all ducked as Happy literally blasted off the ground and started zipping about the air like a rocket, overjoyed wails echoing into the dark of the night. After getting that out of his system, he collapsed onto the front step dramatically as his eyes widened to the point of nearly taking up his whole head.

"I…I found it…I found heaven on Earthland!"

He burst into joyous tears afterward, with the rest of the group just staring at him emptily. Levy was the first to shake off her stunned reaction and gawk just at the entrance.

"Wow, this place is definitely lurid…to even fathom how anyone can even afford to _enter_!"

"And just think- _we_ have special reservations!" squealed Juvia. Gajeel folded his arms and looked remarkably uninterested.

"Please, all these places are the same- I bet their menu choices are low in iron."

"Gajeel!"

Gray folded his arms behind his neck and tilted his head at the large imposing sign. "Mm…I wonder if they've got any cold dishes available."

Natsu was prepared to make some snarky comment at Gray's expense -because who wanted to go out for a cold meal?!- until he noticed an unusually quiet Lucy staring at the ground. She seemed distant, yet incredibly focused at the same time. Weird combination for a weird girl…

"Something wrong, Luce?" he asked over the dull roar of the others, tilting his head in confusion. Lucy snapped back to life, bringing her head up and blinking rapidly before smiling at him.

"Ah…I'm fine, really." Her face lit up with reassurance. "Let's just go inside, okay?"

Natsu wasn't entirely convinced, but he nodded at Lucy and opened to the door to let her in. Of course Happy darted in there like his life depended on it, followed by Lucy glided into the establishment with a little more palpable excitement. Natsu beamed at this and whisked himself in eagerly after her.

And then promptly let the door slam shut behind him, leaving Gray to smack right into it and collapse dramatically to the ground.

"Oi, you _idiot_…! Ya know there's more people than just YOU here…!"

Gajeel chuckled at his pain while Juvia immediately checked Gray over for internal bleeding.

"_I_ got it," Levy offered, making sure everyone got in _safely_ before entering herself. After catching up, Natsu glanced over his shoulder and asked everyone what took them so long. Grabbing his nose, Gray was about to give him a piece of his mind but was thankfully held back by Juvia and Levy. Natsu remained clueless as ever, as Gajeel started hungrily eyeing a waitress with a metal tray much to Lily's chagrin.

"Can I _help_ you?"

A snobbish voice cut through the chaos, belonging to the rather impatient host giving the group an unimpressed once over. Natsu swaggered to the front and announced his presence by slamming his hand on the podium. He didn't miss the sounds of groans and facepalming behind him.

"Six reservations under Dragneel," Natsu said boldly, but couldn't resist a giddy look afterwards. "Heh, I've always wanted to say that!"

Lucy moaned lamely as the man scrolled through the list, the scowl melting off his face when he found the name.

"Ah, you're Nobleman Francis' party, mm? He's spoken quite highly of you the times he frequented here these past few days. It seems he's greatly in your debt…"

"Eh, all we did was beat of a bunch of party crashers," Natsu dismissed with a shrug. "S'not a big deal."

"Yes, a fancy meal like this does seem to be a bit much for a display of gratitude, but it's appreciated just the same," Juvia added contently, folding her arms in front of her.

"If he went to all this trouble, it would be rude to let it go to waste," Levy interjected pleasantly. "He's a good man and he's made a nice name for himself."

Lily sprang onto Gajeel's shaking shoulders and clamped his paws over the dragon slayer's mouth while Gray's eye twitched uncomfortably. Only Lucy noticed the random behavior, but her attention was redirected when the host whipped out six menus and promptly took a bow.

"In any case, I apologize for my previous disposition. Please, if you care to follow to me…"

He whipped about face and began marching deeper into the restaurant, everyone complying and following instantly.

"…your table awaits."


	13. Chew on Your Thoughts for a While

**Guest: **I won't even lie, your review was just the thing I needed to push myself to get this chapter done! I've never had someone compliment my formatting before now, so that was refreshing to hear! You're just so nice it makes me want to dance around! xD

**Nalu2015**: Aw, thanks! I don't mind if you are logged in or not- I'm always happy to hear your thoughts! :)

**Pink Lemonade**: Thank you so much! It's also good to see someone else keeping such close tabs on Cana, haha.

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 12: Chew on Your Thoughts for a While~

"Table for one, please."

"As if," scoffed the host, flipping through the guest book and not even giving his latest customer the dignity of eye contact. "Never in my history of working here, and I have worked here since the place _opened_, has a person ever come to the Sea of Dreams _alone_."

A sudden pile of jewel landed in front of him, and that made his snap his head up while his mustache stood on end. Standing before him was…well, a _someone_ in a beige long coat, and their face was mostly hidden by the wide-brimmed fedora they were sporting. Of course, the host found this remarkably suspicious, but when another pile of jewel was slipped onto his podium, he decided asking questions was not entirely necessary.

"Y-Yes, sir, right this way…" the host stammered, scrambling to gather up a menu and a water pitcher. "…on second thought, perhaps you'd rather select your seating arrangements?!"

"That would be perfect, thank you."

The mysterious customer immediately scanned the restaurant for their ideal spot, and after catching sight of a certain group of six –plus two cats- began to move in that direction. There was a secluded table not too far off from where they were destined to sit, and there was a perfect view of them without being out in the open.

"…this will do brilliantly," the figure hummed, taking up the menu as the host placed it on the table. Ever intimidated for reasons he couldn't explain, the host explained that the server would be by soon, then darted back to his post without another word. A chuckle escaped from under the brimmed hat, followed by the removal of binoculars from the right sleeve. Perching not-so discreetly over the top of the menu, they were directly at the circular booth across the aisle, delivering a perfect view.

Gray was the first to plunk himself on the end of rounded bench, and of course Juvia was in the spot next to him like glue. When she noticed she was leaning directly up against his arm, she squeaked and hopped back, leaving him to quirk an eyebrow. Gajeel maneuvered protectively next to Juvia, giving Gray a condescending warning look. Levy groaned at Gajeel's fierce behavior as she took her spot next to him, allowing Lily to jump into her lap. Lucy slid next to Levy with Happy in her own lap…while Natsu somehow managed to fail at sitting down, completely missing his seat and accidentally sending a glass of water flying. No one knew where it ended up.

The figure found it appropriate to smack their forehead.

Afterwards, the waitress appeared, gliding over with a salad appetizer and some breadsticks. She frowned a little when the figure notably pushed the sample away, but became far more unnerved at the sight before her.

"Uhm…binoculars aren't allow here, honey," she coughed, gesturing to the conspicuous spying that was going on. Ashamed, the figure slid the binoculars back into their sleeve.

"My apologizes. I'm…a talent scout. Looking for talent. And the search never rests, you know."

"Riiiiight, well, I'm not going to ask questions as long as you keep those things put away," the waitress continued, taking out a notepad and looking ready to write. "Anyway, I assume you've got your order in mind if you were spending time observing my other customers, so-"

"Oh, I'm not interested in eating anything," the figure declined, holding up a hand. The waitress was not amused.

"Then I'm afraid I'll have to ask ya to leave- it's looking to be a packed house tonight, and we need as much free space as possible-"

"All right, all right, I'll get something, but first I have to know…" A finger was pointed in the direction of the six. "…could I get a bottle of your lightest champagne sent over to that table? Not right this instant, but perhaps during their dessert course? I can tell their night is going to need just a bit of…loosening up."

"Uh…yeah, I could do that…" The waitress was bewildered, but scribbled down the notes. The figure lifted the brim of her hat and smiled, giving a very satisfied nod.

"Thank you kindly! In that case…I'll be taking seven pieces of your finest strawberry cake. And you may have to keep it coming."

. . .

"How did you possibly trip?!" Lucy exasperated, still perplexed at the display from earlier. "You're on the end for crying out loud…!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Natsu responded coolly, sitting in the booth like nothing happened. Both Gray and Lucy groaned while Gajeel murmured something about "dinner _and_ a show" to no one in particular. No one really made a move to speak after that, until Levy decided that silence wasn't going to do anyone any good.

"Anyway, I have an idea!" sang Levy, clapping her hands together. "Since we're all going to be spending the evening with each other, it's probably best to break any awkwardness now…"

She gave Gajeel a quick look out of the corner of her eye- he was already trying to decide on a piece of silverware as an appetizer.

"Oooh, Juvia knows what we can do!" squealed the Water Mage, bouncing in her seat gleefully. "How about we all give our dates a compliment! That way, we can start our night on a good note!"

"That's not a bad idea," Lily agreed with a head nod. "It shouldn't be hard for everyone to come up with something…but who wants to go first?"

Everyone glanced around, although it was unnecessary- Juvia had immediately volunteered, scooting an inch closer to Gray and leaning into him.

"Okay, okay! Ahem…Juvia loves you Gray-sama!"

"That's not a compliment-!"

"One hell of a compliment if _I_ ever heard one," grunted Gajeel with a disapproving look. Gray smacked his forehead as Juvia giggled to herself.

"Fine, fine…Juvia has always admired Gray-sama's penchant for creativity." She pulled away from Gray to fold her hands in her lap and beam. "See? That was not so hard!"

"Mm…" Gray relaxed a little after that, though he was struggling to come up with something to say in response. However, he panicked and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "…I like your hair!"

"_That's_ what you follow up with?" snorted Natsu, just as something sailed through the air and clonked Gray in the back of the head. The Ice Mage yelped on the spot and grabbed the back of his neck, with Juvia catching the object and revealing it to be a dinner roll. As they had yet to be waited on, it wasn't from any of them…

A certain woman with strawberry cake at a different table tried to make herself as inconspicuous as possible.

"Anyway…" trailed Lily as Gray was desperately looking around for the source of his inconvenience. The cat coughed and redirected his attention towards Levy. "I, personally, have always enjoyed your upbeat personality, Miss Levy."

"Aw, thanks Lily!" Levy beamed, cuddling him in her lap. "And you, Gajeel…"

She was trying her best to not fumble up her words; he was trying his best not to look too terribly interested.

"…I like that you're not afraid to be yourself."

Levy casually poked her fingers together as she willed a blush off her face, attempting not to look at Gajeel too expectantly. All grew quiet as they waited for Gajeel to return the compliment –Juvia with a little more enthusiasm than anyone else- but eventually he sighed and tried to avoid eye contact.

"I…have never hated your smile."

Juvia shrieked ecstatically while Lily questioned the phrasing of the compliment, but it was impossible for Levy to _not_ smile after hearing that. Gajeel's eyes darted over to the bookworm beside him for a second before his ears started turning red. Juvia again giggled- he shot her a look.

"…whatever, someone else go now!"

"You _took_ mine," murmured Lucy and Natsu, both of them exchanging a look afterward.

"Fufufu, looks like you two have to find something new to compliment on~!" Happy sang. "I've already got _my_ compliment- Lucy, you don't look _nearly_ as fat tonight as you normally do."

"Gee thanks, cat," Lucy groaned, a bead of sweat forming on her head. She then grew quiet and puffed her cheeks. "But Natsu's smile was the first thing that came to mind…it's one of my favorite things about him…"

"Well for what it's worth, I feel complimented," Natsu declared, proceeding to showoff that trademark grin. Lucy returned the smile as he then gained a thoughtful look. "Anyway, something to say about Lucy…"

"I-It's all right, Natsu. You don't have-"

"GOT IT!" the dragon slayer yelled, causing a few heads to turn. Lucy was slightly wary about what was coming, but Natsu looked proud of himself as he said, "If I can't compliment your smile, I'll compliment your laugh!"

"My…laugh…?"

"Sure," Natsu shrugged. "I mean, you're grumpy most the time, but when you _do_ laugh, it's always really nice."

"Nailed it," murmured Happy behind his paw.

Just as Lucy was about to reply to that, she was interrupted by their waitress suddenly whisking onto the scene. She was speedy and remarkably efficient, sliding everyone a menu and quickly pouring more water. As she got everyone situated without even saying a word, Juvia's jaw dropped while Gajeel's eyes bugged out.

"...oi, Sue, is that_ you_?!"

Their tanned-skinned green-haired server blinked with momentary confusion, her hand flying up to cover her mouth. Levy immediately leaned in to get a closer look before whipping her gaze at Gajeel.

"You_ know_ her?!" she quipped, a little more high-strung than she intended. Gajeel was speechless until Juvia saved him from an awkward answer.

"She was in Phantom Lord, just like us," the Water Mage explained quickly. "She worked under Gajeel and the Element Four! She's highly skilled in Mirror Magic, and her partner was a well-respected Sound Mage..."

"Aye! I remember you!" chirped Happy, springing onto the table. "She's the nice lady that gave me that tasty raw meat that one time!"

"Mm, I think I remember seeing your face," remarked Natsu, scratching his chin. "…your name was Caitlin, right?"

"They just said it and that's not even close to correct!" exclaimed Lucy. Sue just laughed and put a hand on her hip, balancing her water pitcher in her other hand.

"Dang, all of that was_ so_ long ago…! After seeing how down and dirty you got at the Grand Magic Games, I never woulda expected to see you all in a place like this, 'specially big bad Black Steel Gajeel!" she smirked. Gajeel pointedly avoided eye contact. "Truth is, I'm only here as a temp- funds are tight and I'm just tryna make a little clean side money, and every once in a while this place is understaffed. Guess I picked a good day ta work!"

"W-well, we're just here because we earned a reward," Levy perked up shyly. Sue pondered this for a second before snapping her fingers.

"Ah, gotcha. You must be the group Francis was talkin' about! He says you're welcome to have anything and as much as you'd like-" Natsu and Happy's mouths immediately started watering. "-but you have to leave the restaurant by the time it closes. That gives ya more than enough time to get yer fill, so no abusing your stay."

"Well that's understandable," Lucy remarked with a small smile. "Tell him he has my personal thanks for being so generous like this!"

"Can do, Baby Doll!" Sue gave her a two-fingered salute. "Y'all just skim the menu now- I'll be back with appetizers and salads, so enjoy yourselves!"

As the majority of the table thanked her when she flitted away, Gajeel leaned in discretely and rolled his eyes.

"She was_ never_ this pleasant back in the day. Let me tell ya a little story about the incident with the blueberries-"

"Gajeel!" squalled Levy as Lily pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Perhaps telling ill-fated stories about our waitress isn't the best course of action…"

"I think it's nice that she's doing well for herself. I'll be sure to leave her a nice tip," Juvia stated brightly, and after that spot of unfiltered optimism, no one had it in them to make any sort of crass comment. Gray had simply taken up his menu, and while everyone else followed suit, Juvia seemed shaky as she did so. It didn't take the Ice Mage very long to select anything –just some sautéed cod fish with a side of coleslaw was fine for him- but it was impossible for him to not notice the uncertainty on Juvia's face.

"Mm? What's up, Juvia? You look…discontented."

"Eep!" Juvia squeaked, nearly losing her already loose grip on the menu. "S-sorry. The reality of all this is just now settling in…"

"Reality of what? Being…er, here with me?"

"Well, there's that." Juvia started to sink under the table. "…but there's also the fact that this is Juvia's first real date somewhere nice…"

Gray blinked and glanced down at the girl in purple next to him- she was almost reduced to a puddle at this point, and it was hard for Gray to tell whether it was out of embarrassment or just simply because Juvia was having trouble keeping her composure. Gray started to worry that this was going to become a problem, but in the back of his head he knew Erza would be on his case if Juvia ended up not having a nice time… Not that he exactly wanted her feeling bad either.

"…this is really your first date?" Gray asked quietly, grabbing what remained of her wrist to hopefully help pull herself back together. "But you've-?"

"Juvia _has _had other love interests in the past, but none ever lasted long enough to do something like this…even a walk through the park was impossible since no one could take the rain…" She straightened up in her seat a little. "That's why Juvia is so happy you agreed! She knows it's not your thing but…it means a lot."

Gray once again blinked dumbly, then smiled slightly; Juvia's stare lingered a few seconds too long before immediately stopping herself.

"Hahaha, anyway, s-sorry! I feel like I don't entirely know what to do, that's all…I can't even pick something to eat!"

"Hey, don't worry so much. Most of the time…argh, _dates_ are used to get to know the other person, but we already know each other –almost- a little too well…so you don't have to be so uncomfortable. And here," Gray offered, placing her menu down flat so they both could look at it. "You like more exotic things, right? This section over here has all sorts of dishes that'd probably be to your taste."

Juvia gave Gray a grateful nod and tried to focus on the selections instead of her latest fantasy of him coiling his arm around her and pulling her in close. Gray waited patiently as she looked it over –while noticing that she turned a shade of red- yet couldn't help but feel a chill run up his spine and nudged Juvia.

"…do you feel like someone's cheering at us from somewhere?"

"Mm? Not at all," Juvia replied, blinking owlishly.

As a certain cloaked woman tried to keep her prideful shouts under control (leaving Gray to feel like a crazy person), Sue came back with appetizers lined up and down her arms, providing breadsticks, fish crackers, iron chips with Gajeel obviously in mind, and salads for Gray, Levy, and Lucy. Happy had practically swan dived into the fish crackers while Natsu grabbed at the bowl of breadsticks with ravenous intent. Just before he shoveled them all into his mouth, he stopped himself and only took one to start with. Of course, Lucy was perplexed by this while at the same time twistedly relieved, yet Sue took note of this as well.

"Eh heh, I'll be sure to keep up on the breadsticks and crackers," Sue chuckled, twirling away to give them some more time. As Natsu munched absentmindedly on the breadstick, Levy couldn't help that her eyes insisted on drifting over to what was happening on her left. Lucy had her full attention on scanning the extensive menu with Happy drooling her shoulder, while Natsu's full attention was on Lucy. Levy could see how his eyes were full of complete disbelief that Lucy was even sitting next to him in the first place, and his expression was truly a fusion of unfiltered joy yet untapped uncertainty that mixed into unwanted anxiousness. And it was rather endearing.

Her eyes then rolled over to Gajeel, busy gnawing thoughtlessly on the provided iron chips.

Levy's cheeks puffed out as she pouted, but then released her frustration in a drawn out exasperated sigh. She couldn't bring herself to call him out, as she knew fully well what she was signing up for the second she mustered the courage to ask him on the date in the first place.

And then there was Lily, sitting between them and looking quite adorable with his fuming expression.

He knew fully well that neither of them were fully satisfied with their circumstances. It was obvious that just sitting next to Gajeel wasn't going to be enough for Levy, and Gajeel might have been on high alert for suspicious activity –Lily knew that better than anyone- but the only thing worth questioning was why he was eating his silverware…!

Something had to change, thus Lily adjusted his bowtie and put on a determined look. Time to break some ice.

"So Miss Levy," Lily began, turning to face the bluenette as she poked quietly at her salad. "Do you like the food so far?"

Gajeel aimed a heavily suspicious gaze in Lily's direction while Levy brightened up a little and clasped her hands together.

"Yeah, totally! I know it's just the appetizer, but it's so fresh and flavorful!" Her gaze drifted around the restaurant, taking in nothing but the atmosphere. "Plus, the décor in here is really easy on the eyes! I love that they drew inspiration on the design from our neighboring countries."

"I noticed that as well. It goes excellently with the live orchestra that's playing."

"Tch, the music sucks," Gajeel mumbled absentmindedly, as he was trying to stay out of the conversation as much as possible. Lily hid his smirk as Levy eyed the dragon slayer inquisitively, even subconsciously scooting closer the tiniest bit.

"Well not everything can be jazz music, Gajeel," Lily stated pointedly afterward. Gajeel threw him a scornful look.

"Whaddya talking about? It's the only thing worth listening to in this day and age, and especially not this snore fest crap…" He tapped his fingers against the table in a rhythmic beat, almost as if he was coming up with a new tune. "Hell, if they let me play in this ritzy place, I bet I'd be a bigger draw than the food…!"

"A guy can dream," Lily shrugged, with Gajeel giving him his most disproving glower.

"Ahm."

Levy's meek interruption cut both Gajeel and Lily off, with the cat immediately sliding out of the picture as Gajeel quirked an eyebrow. She was still looking somewhat bothered, but red now painted her face as she twisted her fingers together.

"If you'd like, I wouldn't mind listening you play after this date is over…"

Gajeel blinked and came off his brief anger high. "Mnh?"

"Y-Yeah…I mean, your music's not so bad…and it's good that you have a passion!" She finally met his eyes and gave him a demure smile. "It's not so different from me and my books…"

Gajeel was unable to come up with an immediate response, but Lily was so not about to let the energy die here. He made himself as prominent as possible –standing on Levy's lap- and looked incredibly eager.

"Say, I just had a thought…do you write as much as you read, Levy?"

"Haha, not really- writing is more of Lu-chan's specialty," Levy hummed, with Gajeel wondering where all this was going. "I'm far more enamored with reading what other people come up with…I don't think I'm quite imaginative enough to create something myself."

"…have you ever _tried_?"

The smirk on Lily's face was hard to miss as Gajeel prodded back into the conversation, still trying to be aloof about the whole thing. But how could Levy think she wasn't imaginative? The girl's magic allowed her to create anything she wanted for cripes' sake!

"O-of course I tried a couple of times, but it's like I'm never inspired enough…" Levy fidgeted in her seat. "I feel like my ideas are just too simple and insignificant…I don't think I can create something people would want to read."

"…yer a Solid Script Mage and ya don't think you can write? Sounds like nothing but nonsense ta me," Gajeel announced incredulously. "I mean, I ain't got no impressive vocabulary, but even I can still churn out some mean lyrics…"

"That's up for debate," Lily whispered under his breath, but Levy's eyes lit up as she leaned in for more details.

"W-Well, how do_ you_ do it, then? How do you make something that you're proud of? What's the secret?!"

Gajeel chuckled and used a finger to poke Levy back into place. She pouted, but after Gajeel took another loud chug of water –"Aaaaah." "Gajeel!"- he set it back down and gave her a partially serious, partially lighthearted look. It was quite the expression, especially on someone like the Iron Dragon Slayer.

"There_ is_ no secret, Shrimp. If ya ask _me_, anyone can write, and whether it's 'good' or not is merely opinion." He glanced around to make sure no one but Levy was really paying attention to him before continuing. "…what matters is if the point ya want to make gets across. If there's something yer lookin' ta say, then say it. Not everyone may listen…but the ones that matter will."

A light giggle emerged from Levy afterwards, prompting her to cover her mouth. Gajeel raised a bemused eyebrow as he reached for the iron chips again and found that they were gone.

"What? Did I say something stupid?"

"No, no…I'm just a little surprised at your insight. You and I…" She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "…maybe we're not so radically different."

Gajeel unexpectedly flashed a grin –it was kinda creepy, Levy noted in the back of her head- but she enjoyed it until Sue sauntered by them with a large tray of food in her hand. This snapped Gajeel out of his weird daze to holler at his former guild mate.

"Oi, Sue! Next time ya come around, bring me a soda!"

As a paw collided with Lily's face when he started scolding Gajeel for the blatant lack of respect –Gajeel proceeded to only half listen- Levy took the opportunity to reach for a napkin and inconspicuously pull out her Light Pen. She bit carefully on the end when she felt that familiar block coming on, but after sliding a quick glance at Gajeel, she found that maybe she had all the inspiration she needed…and hastily began to scribble something to life.

Meanwhile, Happy was currently sharing a menu with Lucy, and was salivating just as the sight of all the pictures of prepped fish that could possibly earn a place in his stomach.

"Wow, they even have fish with fish sauce…!"

"The sauce isn't _made_ out of fish." Lucy pointed out with a head shake. "It's a special concoction they prepare that goes _with_ the fish."

"…I think actual fish sauce on raw fish would be waaaay better."

"Happy, that sounds horrible."

"You obviously don't have the taste buds for fine seafood!"

Happy blissfully returned to the fish crackers after feeling like he made his point, leaving Lucy to groan and continue to peruse the menu for the best dish that appealed to her appetite…and she had no idea that Natsu was currently staring at her.

He could understand her mindful consideration- regardless of whatever grub she ate at the guild, Lucy Heartfilia would always have a refined taste for fancier foods. Natsu was attentive enough to figure that out just by watching the subdued joy light up her face when she delightfully recognized some of the more top-notch options.

She seemed…so in her element, in a way that he'd never noticed before. Of course, with this being an ideal rendezvous for some of the richest people in the kingdom, Lucy knew just what to do and how to act in such an atmosphere, and she wasn't out of place at all. Natsu was just doing his best to stay still and not unintentionally burn everything to a crisp.

And now he was feeling a little like he'd bitten off more than he could chew.

Lisanna said to be himself…but Lucy had standards. A type. An ideal man. A_ something_ that was so totally probably not Natsu.

"Got it!" Lucy chimed brightly, satisfyingly snapping her menu closed. It was then that Natsu blinked and realized that he probably should have been skimming through the options himself. Coughing quickly, he took a swig of his water before hastily opening the menu, aiming to pick the first thing that looked good.

Lucy chuckled slightly before turning towards Natsu, who appeared to be having some trouble scrutinizing the options. His face was now contorted in confusion and his tongue was sticking out in deep thought.

"…I think all of this is written in a foreign language," he pouted. "How do they expect us common people to order from this?!"

"Natsu, you're holding it upside down."

Natsu glanced at Lucy for a fleeting moment before discretely flipping it around and returning to the hunt for something tasty. Still, many of the dishes were beyond him, and eventually he just chucked the menu over his shoulder.

"Eh, whatever. I'll just get what you do, Lucy!"

Lucy managed to catch the menu before it ended up clonking some unsuspecting individual in the head, then carefully placed it back onto the table before giving Natsu a sympathetic smile.

"I don't know, you and I don't exactly have the same opinion when it comes to seafood…besides, I'm sure you'd rather have something spicier or meatier than the gourmet seafood pasta I'm planning to get."

"But I like pasta!" Natsu whined. "What's yours got that I won't eat?"

"You not eating isn't the problem," Lucy deadpanned, but quickly recovered. "This is_ your_ reward for a job well done; you should get something you'll think you'd really like. If you ate something catered more to my tastes, you wouldn't enjoy it as much."

"…mmm, I suppose ya got a point." He gnawed hungrily on another breadstick. "…but I really don't think I'd care."

"Suit yourself," Lucy shrugged, returning to the menu to see if there was anything good to drink. "I'm just saying, I don't want you to deny yourself of your own pleasure. I was raised on fancy dishes like these, you know."

"…yeah, I know that."

Next thing Lucy knew, Natsu was eating the rest of the breadsticks out of _nervousness_. He currently had _five_ sticking out of his maw, and when Lucy gave him an incredulous look, Natsu hastily tried cramming them all further in at once. Somehow he succeeded, but his cheeks had stretched out in such a way that resembled an obese chipmunk. Lucy wasn't sure whether to gape in horror or burst out laughing.

"Erm, Natsu…?"

"Fa, wut erz ut?" was the utterly mangled response, only serving to make the dragon slayer look even more ridiculous. Frankly Lucy was a little bewildered by Natsu's actions, as he was acting a little odd, although none of it seemed to correlate to Cana's predictions. Perhaps that meant she didn't need to be so uptight… But then she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see Levy and Gajeel holding a conversation while Gray and Juvia were quietly trading blurbs…and there was Natsu, stuffing his face and seemingly trying to avoid saying anything.

Which was twice the shock considering it usually took immense effort to get him to keep his loud yap shut.

"…you seem jittery," Lucy finally replied once he had swallowed his impossible bite, folding her hands together and still remaining guarded.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well for starters, you're not normally a nervous eater."

"Your point?" Natsu asked as he proceeded to shovel the rest of the fish crackers into his mouth, tapping his free hand erratically on the table. Lucy proceeded to call him out on it, but just waved him off and turned away.

"Nevermind…"

Happy, who wasn't entirely happy about his crackers being devoured, promptly jabbed Natsu in the shoulder.

"You're losing her, buddy."

Natsu gulped down the crackers then wracked his mind for something to say next. He tried to come up with something Lucy would want to talk about, so he sputtered out the first thing that came to mind.

"Er, ah, well…read any good books lately?"

Okay, that was semi-intelligent. He had no idea how he was supposed to follow up though.

"I actually did, thanks for asking." Lucy's lips curled up into a smile. "A few nights ago I just finished reading an amazing mystery novel. Turns out the protagonist was his own worst enemy!"

"Mmm hmm, yes," replied Natsu, holding his chin and nodding perceptively while Happy snickered to himself. "Please do go on."

Lucy was more than ready to giddily launch into an analytical spiel of the story, until she realize this was not Levy she was talking to and immediately had a feeling she was about to bore Natsu's ears off. "What the…? Wait a second, Natsu, do you even really care about any of this?"

"Just trying to start a conversation. I mean, I-" His tone went from casual to somewhat alarmed. "…I don't know what else you like."

Lucy saw the panic wash over his face like this was a horrible discovery and tried to calm him down before he ended up burning something in the process.

"Well, I don't know much about you either, if you think about it…other than how your life consists of eating, fighting, and sleeping."

Natsu inwardly winced. "That actually sounds like you've got me spot on…"

He tugged nervously as his scarf as Lucy struggled to repress a giggle, and just that alone restored some of his confidence. Still, he was a little disturbed that he couldn't even find something mutual to talk about with the person he called his best friend and partner. He tried not to sulk about it, but he was failing miserably until he felt Lucy's hand on him.

"Well, you know what's important, right? Same for me about you," Lucy reminded him, giving his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "It's almost the reverse from normal for us…we know some of the deepest things about each other, but not the little things."

"That…is definitely true."

"Soooo…let's try to use this time to learn about the little things, okay?" Lucy suggested. "At least then it won't be totally awkward…or at least, I hope."

Natsu grinned so widely it nearly broke his face. "Well, knowing you, you've probably got all sorts of strange interests, ya weirdo."

She lightly shoved him; he overdramatically toppled over and nearly landed his hand in her salad. Happy was trying his best not to relentlessly taunt them as Lucy chided him for being careless and Natsu merely countered with a sheepish grin. Before things could spiral TOO out of control, Sue returned with more breadsticks, fish crackers, iron chips, and Gajeel's soda in tow. Once she provided the spread, she flipped her mini notebook open and grinned at the group, readying her pen.

"A'ight, then! If everyone's all good to go, just tell me what'cha in the mood for!"

Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but Natsu interrupted her, holding his hand out as if to say he had this under control. She gave him a skeptical look as he cracked open his menu, clearing his throat before speaking.

"Yes, I'll have the-!" He squinted at the menu, deciding to take Lucy's previous advice, before beaming confidently. "-ooh, the...lemon-migrated Firecracker Salmon? Eh, close enough, and that Scanty Seaweed Pasta for the lady."

Lucy nearly died of embarrassment at his mispronunciations and took cover behind her own menu while Sue gained an expression of confused terror- Gray and Gajeel snorted while Juvia and Levy scolded them for laughing. Happy wasted no time in picking up the slack, running his paw down the list of delectable items he'd mentally selected.

"And _I'll_ take two bowls of calamari, some yellowtail sashimi, the shrimp puffs along with some of that delicately glazed prawn, a few crab cakes, some lobster if you're feeling generous, the biggest tuna you've got, that chef's special fillet smoothie –actually, you know what? Just give me it all! Aye sir, I'm eating like a_ king_ tonight…! AHAHAHAHA!"

Everyone proceeded to balk at the cackling blue cat, with Sue in particular having gone completely pale after trying to comprehend the Exceed's crazed hunger. Lucy eventually became exasperated and ended up tossing her menu into the air, causing it to land in the pot of a large decorative plant.

"We'll just have the buffet."


	14. Dinner Conversations Are Really Hard

**Long wait? Have a long chapter! On me, of course. **

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 13: Dinner Conversations are Really Hard~

"I'll have to remember this place next time I'm craving cake…"

A dark smirk crossed Erza's face as she popped another morsel into her mouth, savoring the blend of sweet cream and tang of strawberry in one luscious bite. Before getting too caught up in the flavor –even though she probably had eaten well over an entire cake at this point- she snuck another glance over at the table of six, eyeing Gray and Juvia in particular.

It truly was refreshing to see them getting along so well- not necessarily anything romantic, but just seeing Juvia not so high strung and Gray opening up a bit was more than she could ask for. She'd only came to make sure Gray didn't unintentionally screw anything up, or possibly reign in Juvia if needed, but her worries were unfounded. A few times she had to hurl a dinner roll at Gray when he slacked off, but now that they were well into the date, both of them were comfortable with each other. Mission accomplished on her part.

She also had to quietly admire the other two couples. Gajeel wasn't nearly as animated as Gray, but he was actually having a two-sided conversation with Levy, who was known more for talking than listening. While Gajeel would throw in a few 'short jokes' every now and then to get a rise out of Levy, he surprisingly proved to be a decent conversation partner. Whatever they were idly discussing, it must have been engaging, as even Lily's ears were perked to attention as he listened in closely. Happy wasn't nearly as attuned to Natsu and Lucy, as his limited attention span was consumed by the wide spread of fish, yet it worked out for the best. Natsu was on his best behavior now–Erza had a hard time believing this was the same guy at a few points- and while Lucy had started out pretty guarded, she eased into it and relaxed quite a bit. Erza couldn't help but smile- it was good that they were all happy.

"Well, their dessert course should be around shortly, along with the beverage I requested…and I suppose my work here is done," the redhead sighed contently, rising from her seat and leaving a generous tip on the table for Sue, who had also been waiting on her. "I'll go wash up in the facilities and see myself out…"

In the back of her mind she was quietly wondering when it would be her turn to go on an outing like this, but she shook such thoughts out of her head. This was _their_ night, and she wasn't going to taint it with her own selfish desires…even if they had no idea she was even there.

Upon entering the restroom, Erza reequipped out of her coat disguise and left herself armorless, heading straight for the sink and washing up. She was in the middle of dropping a glob of soap into her palm when a silver-haired woman who had clearly seen better days sauntered in, lamenting to herself. Erza wondered if the off-kilter woman even noticed that she wasn't the only one in the room, but as Erza watched her reflection in the mirror, the knight took note of the slightly unhinged looked in the stranger's eyes.

"I am so sick of waiting…!" the woman complained, waltzing over to the far sink to splash some water on her face. "How long does it take for that little man to make a move anyway?!"

Under normal circumstances, it didn't sound like a far-fetched complaint. She was a woman in a nice restaurant, and out of context, it appeared to be that she was upset with her date for not taking the "next step" or something of the sort.

But Erza was trained to see what wasn't obvious, and tried her hardest not to look conspicuous as she slid her gaze over to the woman standing opposite at her…and immediately recognized the dark Black Thorn symbol on her collarbone.

And thus, that woman's statement took on a far more dangerous meaning.

Every inch of Erza was on high alert- Master Makarov had made her aware of Black Thorn's antics, considering two of her teammates were attacked and one was currently being targeted, but she was advised to not take action against them either, unless someone's life was in danger. While it sounded to her that someone's life was in danger she was without proof, and just as she turned to leave the restroom and investigate this, Mercury did what Erza had done.

She noticed the blue Fairy Tail mark on Titania's exposed arm.

"KAAAAAA-!" Erza screeched, suddenly watching as the world grew taller around her when her body became spontaneously engulfed by the floor below. She was trapped up to her chest, and unable to move her arms, summoning any sort of weapon was impossible, and using a Requip became pointless. She gritted her teeth as she heard the clicking of high heels striding up to her in an uneven beat, until Mercury leaned over Erza from behind, her body unnaturally twisted thanks to her non-solid consistency.

"Grah, this whole bloody city is just _crawling_ with fairy scum like you, huh?" Mercury sneered, and although she wasn't particularly pleased, she treated Erza's appearance as nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "Well, that's okay…we'll oust you all one by one if we have to. You're not the only guild in Fiore that knows how to get mean revenge, you know…"

"So you're just targeting my friends for nothing more than petty retribution?! How low are you, unable to gracefully accept failure and defeat?!" Ezra snapped, struggling for her freedom. Mercury shook her head disgustedly.

"Sweetie, that mission your rat pack interfered with was a _huge_ loss to us, and it runs deeper than anything you could ever hope to be involved with." Her tone was acidic, and her body continued to warp in on itself, which frankly disturbed Erza. "The little bookworm is the reason the plan fell apart in the first place, that water princess took out one of our strongest members, and that dragon slayer is going to fetch _quite _a bit of money on the dark guild black market …anything we do with that trio will just be compensation for what we've lost, you know."

Erza cried out again as the floor devoured her even further under Mercury's command, her chin barely remaining over the linoleum. A twisted laugh ripped from Mercury's throat as she started to make her way out of the room, her hand all set to send Erza straight through the floor without another thought.

"You just better hope this place has a basement, and you better hope I come back for you when we finish taking care of your little fairy friends, cha ha."

And Erza vanished beneath the floor of the bathroom, completely swallowed up like she was never even there.

. . .

"H-hey, which one of you ordered champagne…?"

Lucy wasn't exactly ready to dive back into the world of alcohol after her last unfortunate experience, so when Sue returned to their table with a tray full of desserts and there was a nicely sized wine bottle placed in the center of the tray, she grew a little cautious. Only Gray cracked an eyebrow with bemused interest; the other four were incredibly skeptical.

"I'm pretty sure that's for another table," Levy stated politely enough as Sue set it down and casually popped the cork.

"Nah, the lady over in Booth Eight bought it for you guys," Sue explained, starting to gesture over to the table in question. When she found no one there, she tilted her head and shrugged. "Ah, she must have left already. Not that I'm surprised, given how much dessert she was devouring…I'd almost have her pinned for a mad woman."

She placed the thin green bottle onto the table; Lucy and Gajeel eyed it warily, Natsu and Juvia leaned in to study it closely, and Gray and Levy were perplexed at best.

"If you're worried about the alcoholic content, there's only a very minimal amount in there. Only way you could possibly get drunk on somfin' like that is if ya suck down the whole bottle…" Sue winked. "It's practically virgin, but there's still enough there to_ maybe_ give ya a kick if ya know what I mean…"

She sashayed away with an almost too-coy flair. The group was left exchanging uncertain glances for a few uncomfortable seconds-

Levy went to reach for it; Gajeel nonchalantly smacked her little hand away.

"We ain't about to drink_ that_! We don't even know where it came from, or from who!"

"But this is a full bottle- it'd be a huge waste if we didn't drink any of it," Levy pointed out. "Besides, someone probably recognized us from Fairy Tail and wanted to give us an anonymous present."

Gajeel gave her a long look. "…did ya drink some of this while I wasn't looking?! You're supposed to be the sensible one- this is all way too suspicious!"

"Hey, if it was your old friend that prepped it for us, I sincerely doubt it's _poisoned_," Levy countered, and the majority of the table had to agree with that. Gajeel was unable to come up with a witty enough response, so Levy beamed in victory and started pouring everyone a glass.

Lucy immediately refused her glass, not wanting to take any risks –Natsu felt the same- while Gajeel refused to drink something potentially poisoned. Seeing that Gray was taking a glass, Natsu didn't want to be outdone- but he stopped to sniff it first.

"Um, what the-?" Lucy started, but Natsu shot her a look.

"You know I don't normally drink alcohol."

"Well, there's hardly any in there- you should be fine," Lucy shrugged.

"And that's why _you're_ not drinking it?"

"Do you want me to risk having you carry me everywhere again?"

"Not particularly."

"Aw, just one won't kill you!" Levy laughed.

"That kind of talk gets people killed."

"Gajeel!"

"What? Not everyone can carry their alcohol well, even if it's just a drop." Gajeel aloofly waved his hand. "The guys back at Phantom Lord were wimps; they'd probably black out just by lookin' at Cana, I swear…"

"Soooo…are we drinking, or not?" Juvia asked innocently enough, blinking and tilting her head. "Because Juvia does not want any…unless Gray-sama drinks it."

Gray threw up his hands before snagging the glass. "Geez, fine! You're all making a big deal out of nothing! Sue said it was practically virgin- it's basically just sparkling grape juice."

Gray made a huge show of chugging the glass down in one try; almost instantly Juvia followed suit, almost she made a puckered face afterwards. After seeing that neither of them spontaneously died from taking the drink, Levy went to do the same…until Gajeel swiped her glass and took it for himself. Everyone at the table proceed to gape at him as he casually wiped his mouth off with the back of his sleeve.

"…I wasn't taking any chances."

Levy heaved a sigh as Lily dropped his head in his paws, until all eyes rolled over to Natsu, who was staring at his glass like it would disappear were he to look away. Gray raised an eyebrow and drummed his fingers on the table.

"Are ya going to do it or not, Fire Face? We don't have all night."

"Sh-shut up!"

Natsu was biting his lip as he silently debated whether or not to do it. Gray and Gajeel's heckling of the pink haired dragon slayer wasn't much help either, even after Lucy told Natsu drinking the stuff was purely optional.

"Guys, no, don't pressure him-" Lucy had started to say in response to the increased taunting, but of course before she even managed to get her sentence out Natsu had already downed half the glass. And yet, that was all he could get down.

"…_yuck_!" He nearly wretched, grabbing at his throat while he teetered around in his seat. "I dunno why people are so into that stuff- it's nothing but nasty!"

"Is it really that bad?" Happy wondered as he took a break from his fish smoothie to investigate, picking up Natsu's cup and finishing it off. He sat poised for a moment, as if testing out the taste, but eventually puckered and shook his head. "No sir, I'm never letting that enter _my _system ever again…!"

"Guess I didn't miss out on much," Lucy remarked as a red-faced Natsu hastily shook his head.

"It was _fine;_ they're just being over dramatic," Gray insisted, pulling his slice of cake a la mode closer to him and ignoring the killer glare Natsu was throwing his way. "Now come on- let's dig into dessert!"

Juvia immediately agreed with Gray and wrapped her lips around a spoonful of her own dessert, and it was easy to tell she was the one cherishing the dish the most. Her eyes fell closed to better enhance the dance of sweet flavors currently taking place on her tongue…

What? It was really good ice cream.

As she poked pensively at her plate, she rested a hand on her cheek, her thoughts unsurprisingly drifting over to Gray. There was actually the smallest hint of a genuine smile on his face, which was far more welcome that the mellow half-pout he seemed to prefer. His shoulders were naturally relaxed –not that forced mellow slouch- _and _he still had his clothes on! …which Juvia couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing, but at least it kept the stripper jokes to a minimum.

When she felt herself slowly slipping into a new fantasy of a shirtless Gray with a bowtie sharing ice cream with her, Juvia hastily shook it away and discretely nudged Gray to get his attention. He seemed to snap out of whatever dessert induced trance he was in to look at her.

"Isn't this dessert commendable?" Juvia asked casually, breaking out into a smile as she popped another bite of cake into her mouth. Gray chuckled as he ate more ice cream for himself.

"Of course it tastes good- it's the best meal of the night!"

Juvia gave him a skeptical look. "Is that because it's the _coldest_ dish of the night?"

"…yes…"

Gray immediately flushed with embarrassment when he couldn't tell if Juvia was laughing _with_ or_ at_ his horrible attempt at a quip, although he had a pretty good idea when Gajeel deadpanned at him with a thumbs down. Gray groaned and put his head in his hands, but Juvia eventually calmed down and reassuringly patted his back.

"Juvia appreciates your attempt at humor. At least it made her laugh."

"I'm glad you got some entertainment out of it then," Gray murmured under his breath, sounding annoyed but Juvia could tell he was relieved. She giggled at him before casually tracing her finger around the rim of her wine glass.

"So, um, anyway…" Juvia cleared her throat a bit, catching Gray's attention again. "I probably should have mentioned this earlier, er, um, maybe not…but, um…have you been on a date before?"

Juvia flinched like she feared the answer; Gray gave her a fleetingly curious look before hanging his head.

"…eh, a few," Gray admitted after a long silence that Juvia was prepared to fill with apologizes for being too forward. However, any words she were about to form died at his remarkably casual response, and now she could only stare at him with wide eyes. "None have been nearly as nice as this though."

Juvia's heart hammered as his subtle implication as a chuckle escaped him, those intense eyes rising up to meet her blue gaze.

"…did you know I went out with Cana once?"

"_No_," Juvia gasped out in horror and shock, eyes bugging out of her head. "Does this mean Cana is a Love Rival too?!"

Gray snorted. "No way! We were young and dumb and it turned out less romantic and more of us just hanging out…and after she drank herself stupid we both kinda decided we were better as friends. Nothing against her; I just don't see her romantically."

"I see…" Juvia narrowed her eyes as she stared at her reflection in her now empty porcelain plate. "But, ahm, what about Lu-"

"Juvia! Not while she and two nosy dragon slayers are at the table!" he hissed as quietly as possible, quickly checking over his shoulder to make sure no one was paying attention. Gajeel's senses seemed highly trained on both Levy and the restaurant around them, while Lucy was half-amused by the flaming idiot who had a _spoon_ hanging off his nose. Only Happy seemed to notice his glance and gleefully waved back. Gray promptly sighed.

"…so yeah I _may_ have been interested in Lucy-"

Juvia nearly screamed "I KNEW IT" at the top of her lungs, but Gray clamped his hand over her mouth before she could.

"-_at one point_, but I realized quickly that she doesn't see me that way and I'm more than cool with just being her friend and teammate. In fact, I kinda like looking out for her more as a brother, you know? Maybe that's as close as I need to be…"

Gray lowered his hand from Juvia, dropping his gaze at the bewildered look she wore.

"…I never told anyone that before, by the way," he grumbled quietly, and suddenly Juvia felt honored that Gray had shared something so personal with her. She remained speechless as he went on- not that she knew how to respond anyway. "Besides, hothead over there is crazy about her, and I don't want to be the guy that stands in his way…about something like this, anyway."

He picked up his fork and poked at his cake again, although he lacked his earlier enthusiasm.

"Even an idiot like him deserves to be happy too…"

"And so do you, Gray-sama," Juvia hummed quietly, figuring she had kept that to herself, but with the way his eyes widened she knew he'd heard. As soon as he went to look at her Juvia frantically waved her hands. "Ahaha, ignore me! I'm ruining the atmosphere…!"

She desperately wracked her mind for some way to change the subject before things became irreparably awkward, and her eyes lit up as she clapped her hands.

"Oh, I've got it!" She excitedly tugged his arm and grinned at him. "Gray-sama must walk Juvia home later! She has something to give you!"

"I…planned to walk you home anyway," Gray replied with an amused smirk. "But what are you thinking of giving me? …please don't let it be another body pillow with you on it."

"Hmph! Juvia would not be so dense as to give you the same thing _twice_!" She became ghostly hopeful. "Unless you really _want_ another pillow of Juvia-!"

"_NO_!"

"Okay, okay…" Juvia's cheeks puffed out with disappointment. "But Juvia heard you had a bad day yesterday and since even Gajeel-kun was being all secretive about it, she just wanted to do something to cheer you up!"

Gray calmed down a little and raised an eyebrow at her. "Wendy and I just had a run in with some creeps, that's all."

"But Juvia heard you got hurt-!"

"Nothing I couldn't walk off," Gray assured smugly, with Juvia giving him a disbelieving look. "…hey, it didn't stop me from coming tonight, did it?"

"Nope!" Juvia sang, clasping her hands together. "All the more reason why Juvia needs to show her appreciation!"

Her heart swelled when Gray actually laughed, and she nearly melted when his hand found its way to her shoulder. She looked at him curiously while he smiled in such a way that launched her heart into one continuous beat.

"Well, don't worry- this outing is all you and me, and there's nothing but you on my mind. Promise."

Juvia gaped at him, obviously interpreting his words as some higher meaning, then quickly went to pinch herself. When she immediately felt pain, she squealed in delight.

"…er, what was that?"

"Juvia was double checking to make sure that this wasn't one of her daydreams."

"I-I see…"

The mood went back to normal as Gray finished off the last of his dessert, with Juvia happily swooning to herself without a care in the world. To be the sole thing on her beloved Gray's mind for even just a moment was more than a dream come true, and she felt so delighted…!

Still, her curiosity insisted on eating away at her –it was partially why she was such a snoopy person- and eventually commanded Gray's attention again, looking straight ahead as she gulped down her now rising anxiety- why was an actual date so much harder than what she imagined up?!

"May…May Juvia ask you one more question?"

Gray shrugged and folded his arms behind his head. "I don't see why not."

"Well Juvia doesn't really want to pry anymore…" Her voice grew quiet, and she felt like sinking again. "…but with this being Juvia's first real date and all, she just wanted to know…what's the best one that Gray-sama's been on?"

"Well, I don't know." Juvia was surprised by his sudden easy-going tone and how quickly he responded. She instinctively blinked and turned to face him, blushing profusely at the sharp smirk on his face and the wink he gave her. "…_this one's_ not over yet."

. . .

Gajeel was incredibly amused by Levy on this particular date- she was such a multitasker! He swore every time he slipped a glance her way she was doing something different, changing it up in the timespan of a blink! One moment she was raving about the cake to an eagerly agreeing Lily, the next she'd be scribbling on that napkin of hers, and then she'd ask him some inquiry…which he only answered depending on how much he liked the question.

She was so quirky, but she had the scent of sunflowers the whole time, so she must've been overall happy with how things were going.

…which left him with plenty of time to scan the restaurant.

Makarov had given Gajeel a description of the Black Thorn delinquents –according to Gray and Wendy's recollections- but he really wished he had a scent to go off of instead. That way he didn't have to constantly whip his head around in every direction like he was suffering muscle spasms.

"Gajeel, stop looking so conspicuous," Lily murmured as quietly as he could, trying not to break Levy's concentration. "…plus, at least pretend that you're hungry. Your ice cream is melting and that's such a _shameful_ waste-"

Gajeel snarled and shoved his plate of cake and ice cream in front of Lily, with the black Exceed blinking in disbelief and giving him a skeptical look.

"How deplorable, feeding your cat table scraps-"

"Oi, shut up and quit acting like ya don't want it!"

"…well, I certainly cannot tell a lie," Lily replied cheerily, pulling the plate closer and immediately scooping up a large bite and plopping it in his mouth. Gajeel rolled his eyes, but at least Lily would keep quiet now. He was more than prepared to go back to his surveillance until he picked up on a small hum from Levy. His gaze rolled over to her, catching her staring back with a hand hiding her coy smile.

"…what're ya being all smirky for?"

"Well, I couldn't help but notice how intently you keep glancing around the room." She gained a rather sly expression, evidently trying hard not laugh. "What, did you spy some girl that's cuter than me around here?"

"Oi, _no_!"

Levy squealed and suddenly clapped her hands. "Oooh, so I'm the cutest girl in this restaurant then?!"

"…wait, what?"

Everyone at the table froze whatever they were doing and leaned in disbelievingly towards Gajeel; Gajeel turned pink in the ears as he replayed what had just gone down. Yet before Gajeel had a chance to either confirm or deny –or anyone had a chance to tease him- Levy broke out laughing and even wiped away a tear. She hadn't expected it to be that easy to get Gajeel all flustered!

Levy covered her mouth to prevent herself from snorting as Lily simpered deviously to himself and everyone else went back to their own things. Gajeel was left completely at a loss for a response at her reaction, and his face only grew hotter when Levy gave his arm a playful tap.

"Relax there, Gajeel. I was only messing with you."

"Sheesh, it wasn't that funny-" Gajeel grunted, which only made Levy laugh even harder.

"It totally was! Usually you'd catch comments like that, but you walked right into it!"

The dragon slayer grumbled something entirely unintelligible under his breath, although Levy was positive it contained a string of profanities. He resorted on gnawing silverware again, which Levy watched in amusement before writing down a few more things onto her napkin. Satisfied with her addition, she placed her pen down and redirected all her attention back on her date.

"So anyway, on a more serious note, why _were_ you looking around so intently?"

"Looking for Sue," he replied coolly enough, but Levy didn't buy it.

"She was just here, Gajeel. Nice try."

Gajeel inwardly winced; the Shrimp was too smart for her own good!

Levy continued to stare at him with those wide inquisitive eyes, and Lily was of no help, casually anticipating what Gajeel was going to do about all of this. He pursed his lips into a thin line and firmly shook his head.

"Let me guess," Levy sighed knowingly, folding her hands under her chin and leaning in towards him. "It has something to do with protecting me, right?"

"…yer far too perceptive. Curiosity killed the cat, ya know."

"Nuh uh- I'm still here," Lily piped up through a mouthful of cake. Gajeel grunted and nonchalantly pushed him under the table as Levy folded her arms.

"Well can you blame me? You know I'm the inquisitive type, and I told you before-" She poked a tiny finger into his iron chest. "-reading is what I do best, whether it be ancient languages or the most guarded of people!"

Gajeel remained quiet.

"You're not going to tell me either."

"Nah."

Lily decided that it would be very wise to stay under the table, because even from where he was at, he could feel the anger rolling off of Levy in waves. Above the table, her cheeks were puffed out and her fists were curled into little fists, and it was a wonder how she didn't outright explode. Gajeel was unaware until he caught a whiff of ink in the air, followed by picked up on Levy's frustrated exhale. Just as he turned to face her –hey, he thought their conversation was over- she was already glowering at him with a harrowing stare and an uncertain look. Seeing that Gajeel was genuinely confused, Levy simmered down a bit, but continued gripping the edge of the table until she was positive she heard a small crack.

"Gajeel?"

"…mm?"

"Would you call us…friends?"

"…well, we ain't enemies." Gajeel resisted the urge to look uncomfortable and instead raised an eyebrow at her suddenly reserved behavior. "Why is that a question anyway?"

"B-because it doesn't feel like it sometimes," she grumbled, trying not to draw attention. "I know you're not the most open guy Gajeel, but friends shouldn't keep things from each other…trust breaks that way."

"…even if resorting to secrets is the better way to go for everyone?"

"They should trust each other enough to explain everything when things are wrong."

"Yeah, well, some things are put in the dark for a_ reason_."

Gajeel just knew Lily was about to intervene, so the dragon slayer hastily silenced his thoughts with a killer look before turning away from Levy's direction. Poor Lily was left beneath the table, gaping like a fish at how rapidly things had escalated. The awkward silence was thick, and he was about to break it by engaging Levy. But she was busy biting her lip, shaky eyes scanning what she had written on her napkin before hastily folding it and stuffing it carelessly into her dress pocket. Instead of snapping at Gajeel like she so clearly wanted to, she stared intently over at Natsu, Lucy, and Happy, all of them giggling at some reminiscent story they shared.

"Oooh boy," Lily groaned to himself, not sure of how he could even attempt to fix this. Both of them were stubborn, neither of them were really the compromising type, and it didn't help that they both were technically correct on their viewpoints…

"…I only asked because I don't know where we stand right now," Levy's meek little voice croaked out, no doubt picked up by Gajeel's sensitive hearing. "I mean, we're on pretty good terms, but I just want to be clear that we have somewhere to go that just a few conversations and jobs every now and then…"

"She wants to move forward…" Lily whispered, recalling Cana's prediction. "…and you think he's holding back."

"…I thought we_ were_ moving forward." That was Gajeel, rumbling the words under his breath. "…ya know, me bein' here and all ain't exactly easy…I don't got a safety net here."

"You could've said no if you weren't comfortable with it," Levy reminded him. "It's not like I could've forced you to come. I would've been fine if you-"

"No ya wouldn't. I was yer first choice, for whatever reason," Gajeel retorted, and Levy immediately hid her face- and her spawning blush. "Did ya really have a backup plan if I said no? I can't see ya picking between Speedy and Tubby either."

Levy scowled not just at the terrible nicknames, but at the fact that he was right. Seeing as Levy wasn't about to respond anytime soon, Gajeel heaved a relenting sigh and leaned forward to look at her adamantly hiding face.

"…c'mon, Shrimp. Things were miraculously going well until this point…yer gonna let one little thing completely ruin everything?"

Levy knew it wasn't fair to get so hung up over it, and as much as she wanted the whole story, it wasn't right to ask more out of Gajeel than he was willing to give. He had a perfectly valid point- he already made her night by agreeing and showing up, and she was making things harder for him. If he said things were going to be okay, maybe she could give him the benefit of the doubt and let it go.

"…ya know I'm tryin', Levy."

The Solid Script Mage's heart nearly jumped in her throat, unable to believe that such soft spoken words had come from the rough and rugged Iron Dragon Slayer. But when she finally swallowed her pride and turned around, he was using a knife to pick his teeth like nothing had even happened.

Still, he didn't appear surprised when placed her petite hand on his bicep and smiled.

"I know, Gajeel."

"…good," he responded gruffly, trying not to make eye contact. "Now chin up- ya reek of ink right now."

Levy shrieked and reprimanded him for complaining about her "telling scent" again, but after witnessing the jagged smirk spreading on his face, she knew it would be impossible to stay mad at him forever. Lily breathed a sigh of relief from under the table, cropping back up when it was safe at last. When she was done chastising Gajeel, she sat back in her own chair and leered coyly at him; he pretended to take a drink of his soda as he tossed a wink her way, and there was no suppressing the giggle that came from Levy after that.

He told her there was nothing to worry about…and finally she felt like he was right.

. . .

Lucy was stuck laughing and wiping happy tears out of her eyes at the many ways Natsu had succeeded in making her laugh. He was far less embarrassing since the food ordering fiasco, and now she could honestly say that she was having a good time. So many of her dates before now had been so stuffy and rigid- with Natsu it was just fun, and as the night went on he gradually got less nervous and therefore she was able to relax too. After all, it was just Natsu- no need to get so worked up because they were in a new environment.

Sure, he was being a bit of a dork thanks to relapsing into his usual antics…but hey, she was with someone that could flawlessly make her smile, so Lucy couldn't harp on him too much.

Natsu, on the other hand, was seriously regretting drinking that wine.

The last thing he was going to admit to Gajeel or Gray was his shamefully low tolerance for even the tiniest bit of alcohol, but even after drinking half of what he was offered, he was feeling slightly buzzed and had lost his appetite completely- yeah, it was that bad. He had one bite of the cake before calling it quits, discretely tricking Happy into thinking he'd gotten two helpings while simultaneous keeping Lucy distracted with a funny story.

He couldn't help but smirk with pride at a few points- it was _him_ that was the source of her joy…and not some nameless attractive guy who had jumped in out of nowhere like in his dream.

"So ya having fun, Luce?" Natsu asked during a lull in their conversation, just for clarity. As long as she was enjoying herself, he could put up with his protesting headache. Thank goodness she had nodded so eagerly; the soaring of his heart seemed to cancel out the grunts of his tummy.

"Yeah, completely! The food is great, the atmosphere is beyond fantastic, and I feel pretty good…" She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "This is probably the nicest fancy outing I've ever been on…"

"…glad to hear it!" Natsu hummed, flashing her a grin before closing his eyes and leaning his head back. He was trying really hard not to give off the impression that he was in pain, but as soon as Lucy realized he'd fallen quiet and wasn't even_ eating_, she immediately got suspicious. Staring at him questioningly, she put a hand to his forehead and he froze on the spot.

"…do you want to go home, Natsu?" she asked quietly. "You seem to be in a lot of discomfort-"

"What?! No, no, I'm good! I'm just…digesting?" He sprang back to life and sat as straight as a tack in his seat. There was no way he was going to let this date end prematurely. "I-I mean, we just started dessert…do you want the night to end so early?"

Lucy blinked at him as she realized he'd placed his hand over hers on the table. She knew her face must've been slightly pink at that point, not just at his contact but how earnest his words were…

"Admittedly no…I've been having a good time just talking to you, you know."

"I like talking to you too," Natsu beamed. "Your face gets all scrunchy when you talk about something you like."

Mood broken.

"E-Eeeeeeh?!"

"It's a compliment, I promise," Happy whispered, shooting Natsu two thumbs up afterwards with a wink. Natsu groaned and planted his face into the table- now there was a new unpleasant sensation in the pit of his stomach, and he couldn't blame this one on the alcohol. He then heard Lucy giggling at him, and bringing his head up made him realize that his hand was on top of hers. He shyly pulled it away and avoided looking at her.

"Er, sorry 'bout that…"

"Don't worry about it," Lucy dismissed, still visibly pink as she reached for her drink. "But while I'm thinking about it, why were you so adamant on taking me out tonight?"

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her; Lucy immediately laughed nervously and poked her fingers together.

"N-Not that I'm upset about it or anything, but my initial reaction…wasn't the best…and I feel bad about it."

"Well that's still an easy question to answer." Natsu leaned back again and folded his arms behind his head. "You are a nice person."

Lucy hid her giggle behind her hand. "Yeah, but the guild is full of all sorts of nice people…!"

"Luce, you're acting like you wanted me to pick someone else." He stated it coyly, but Happy had picked up on the suspicious tone in Natsu's voice and stared at him curiously. "What, am I not date material?"

Happy gaped at him as Lucy frantically shook her head.

"No, no, no! Honestly, Natsu, none of my apprehension has anything to do with you…I know you always come through for me." Her eyes shimmered as she glanced down. "…I guess I'm just awkward when it comes to things like this. Strange, isn't it? Me being raised on fancy parties and whatnot and I can't even handle my best friend taking me somewhere nice to eat…"

"Yeah, but I guess that's just part of your weirdo charms."

"I'm not a weirdo! If anyone's weird, it's you!"

"Please, I am a_ perfect_ picture of normalcy."

Lucy lost it and snorted while even Happy had to give the dragon slayer a skeptical headshake. Natsu folded his arms and stuck up his nose in response, as if that was going to help prove his point. Lucy had been lost in a fit of giggles until she popped a piece of cake into her mouth-

"So, why don't you have a boyfriend?"

-and promptly choked on it.

Natsu was completely undeterred as Lucy sputtered in place, managed to get her bite of cake down safely but was left gaping at Natsu with her eyes.

"Wh-why would you ask such a question?!"

"Cuz I hear Mira and Levy and Cana ask you things like that all the time, and I've realized that I –as your best friend- don't know the answer."

Lucy looked ready to die on the spot, especially at how nonchalant Natsu was being- didn't he have the sense to at least be a little bit flustered?! It definitely didn't help Happy was tittering to himself at this point…

"Besides, you said we should use this time to learn the little things about each other-" His smirk broadened on the spot. "-unless this_ isn't_ a little thing…?"

"I feel like this is a premeditated question."

"Oi, I ain't drugged up!"

Lucy resisted the urge the pull at her nicely styled hair.

"Idiot! I said _premeditated_, not pre-medicated! Jeez…"

Natsu shrugged, his scarf hanging loosely around his neck. "Easy mistake. My question still isn't answered though."

Lucy puffed out her cheeks until she was red in the face before skewering menacingly at the remainder of her poor chocolate cake. Natsu gulped as he learned seven new ways to stab with an eating utensil.

"…if I'm really honest, it's just that…any guy that tries to date me ends up disappointing…" She stopped assaulting her cake and gained a sad look. "But what if it's not them…and it's just _me_ that's doing something wrong?"

"I highly doubt it's you, Lucy." She jumped at the brutal honesty from Natsu, balking when she looked over her shoulder to find him staring seriously at her. He was leaning way too close as well, so she poked her finger on his forehead and tried to move him away. He didn't budge. "I see it all the time…people get smitten with you just watching you walking by…! And I know if they took the time to get to know how amazing you are, they wouldn't exactly be running for the hills…"

Lucy grew increasingly warmer as she again looked at Natsu- his face was no longer intense, instead wearing one of his softer smirks that always gave her heart a workout. When he noticed her looking back, he widened his grin until it was contagious.

"Do you mean all that…?"

He cocked his head. "Luce, I'll admit to being an impulsive slob with little self-control and will eat anything so long as it doesn't kill me. I am not a liar."

"Mm hm, I suppose I see your point…thanks Natsu." Her cheeks pinked as she stared at her now empty desert plate. "Maybe one day I'll find a guy that won't be too dense to see those things about me."

It had been an innocent statement and Lucy hadn't meant anything by it, but she still felt her skin crawl at the way Natsu's aura had darkened next to her. Even Happy's fur was standing on end at the sight, and he had nonchalantly crawled back into Lucy's lap when Natsu's temperature rose.

"_I'm_ not dense," he murmured through gritted teeth, and Lucy looked genuinely confused.

"H-huh? I didn't call_ you_ dense- well, not today anyway."

"No…but people act like I'm_ always_ oblivious and I'm not…" His unwavering expression was foreign as he tried to tear his gaze away from Lucy, but it was like he was locked into her and couldn't stop himself. "But it's not just me! YOU- you…_you_?"

"Natsu?" Lucy asked quietly, just as the rest of the group was leaning in to see why Natsu was about to blow a fuse. Natsu opened his mouth to finish his thought, but in the same moment suddenly felt lightheaded, clamped both hands over his mouth, and _sprinted _towards the restroom, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

"Toldja Salamander couldn't handle a drop of alcohol," snickered Gajeel. "You'd think being a Fire Dragon Slayer, he'd burn through it faster-"

"-but alcohol is flammable," Levy intervened, drawing out her thoughts with her pen. "Even with such a trace amount, the fire in Natsu's belly surely would-"

"Oi, I was getting to that!" Gajeel exclaimed, waving around his clenched fists. However, the impending argument that sprouted between the two of them made them forget what they were talking about, leaving Lily to smack his forehead. Juvia, meanwhile, couldn't help but stare in the direction Natsu bolted off in.

"Juvia is concerned for Natsu-san…he was getting really worked up. Maybe someone should check on him…"

"Not like it's the first time he's gotten a little spurned off a drink," Gray shrugged, receiving an unimpressed look from Juvia. "Oi, if I know the guy as well as I unfortunately do, he'll be fine. I'm sure of it, Juvia."

"W-well…" Juvia backed down, shyly looking at her lap. "If Gray-sama says so…"

"I don't understand why he drank it in the first place," remarked Lucy as she shook her head. She immediately cringed when Happy started tittering.

"Maaaaybe he was just trying to impress a certain someone…!"

"Eh? And why would he want to do that?"

Happy went from snickering to appearing annoyed in record time, giving her a long look as he hopped on the table and put his paws on his hips.

"I'm disappointed in you, Lucy! You're worried about others being too dense, but maybe you're the thick one around here!"

Lucy completely blanched at his attitude change. "H-Happy?!"

But Happy went off a ranting tangent, barely paying attention to Lucy as he gave his spiel.

"I've spent half a week listening to Natsu preach about how excited he was for this date, and I had to agonizingly watch as he tried his best not to screw it up for you…but then you go and use something Cana said, turn it into a big deal, and nearly made everything awkward!"

Lucy's jaw dropped as the other four members of the group gawked, Happy beginning to pace.

"He went to aaaaaall the trouble of making this date work, and you don't even see it as such! He wasn't trying to push you into anything, but he didn't know how to tell you that he wanted to try something romantic for once, so he just went along with the idea that you're just here 'as friends' so you wouldn't freak out again…_especially_ because Cana's second prediction said one of you was going to go home happy and the other was gonna be depressed! Guess who's gonna be depressed, Lucy?!"

"S-_Second_ prediction?!" gaped Gray, while Juvia and Levy were confused at what these 'predictions' said. Gajeel, who had been the only other person aware of the second prediction thanks to Lily, nearly snapped the glass in his hand. Still, everyone was balking at Happy for his outburst, and he only held up Natsu's fully empty wine glass.

"I think…there's a reason why cats aren't s'poseta drink…"

"Ya think?!" Lily screeched. "You fool, don't tell me you've made yourself drunk?!"

"Is _that_ what this is…?" Happy stuttered with a bit of a slur, suddenly feeling dizzy before slumping onto his side. "I didn't dwink that much…"

"Happy, you're an Exceed, not to mention your body is smaller than a human's…" Levy murmured. "The alcohol probably got into your system faster _and_ has a heavier impact."

"Wow, like dumbass, like cat I guess…" Gajeel blinked. Juvia scolded him harshly as Levy turned back to Lucy, who was shuddering and was pale as a ghost. Gulping, Levy put a hand on her shoulder.

"Lu-chan, are you okay…?"

"…is all that true, Happy?" Lucy asked quietly, turning to the highly unresponsive Exceed. "I-Is this…a d-date…?!"

"Luce?" Gray asked from across the table, with a worried Juvia at his side. Lucy didn't move, sitting like she was paralyzed until Natsu returned to the scene, his expression unreadable. All too immediately, Lucy had scrambled from the table and frantically asked if he was all right.

"Yeah," he stated simply enough, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm better now that all of that is out of my system."

"TMI, Salamander," hollered Gajeel. Natsu shot him a look before frowning at Lucy.

"But um, I'm sorry for getting all bent out of shape over no-"

"Natsu," Lucy interrupted, wasting no time. The tone she used was enough to give him goosebumps. "Please, tell me the truth…is this an actual, meant-to-be-romantic date?"

Natsu's eyes bugged out of his head as he lost his words, suddenly sweating under Lucy's expectant gaze. He couldn't say nothing…but he couldn't_ lie_ either…!

Just as Lucy was about to loudly demand the truth from him, she noticed his expression shift like something was wrong, shrunken pupils darting to the right. His stare intensified as he suddenly put his arms out and lunged at her with no warning, Lucy letting out a shriek. The group still at the table immediately rose to their feet (except Happy) while Lucy tumbled unceremoniously to the ground, nearly expecting Natsu to smack against her. However, he managed to catch himself by slamming his arms on either side of her, his face contorting in pain as he slowly cracked an eye open and grinned weakly at her.

"Y-You okay, Luce?"

"Na-?"

Natsu's face went blank as he suddenly collapsed onto his side, sprawling motionlessly on the floor next to Lucy.

"NATSU-SAN!" "Salamander?!" "F-Flame Brain?!" "Oh, Natsu-!"

"What's wrong with him?!" Lucy yelped hurriedly, growing panicked as she scrambled over his body and quickly searched him. "_What's wrong_?!"

She hastily tried to get a thorough look at Natsu, grabbing his arm as she attempted to pull him up. His eyes were rolled back into his head as his mouth struggled to form words, which only terrified her even further. However, when her fingers brushed against his bare forearm, she went pale- he was _cold_.

…Natsu _never_ got cold…

…but it _probably_ had something to do with the darts currently embedded into his back.


	15. What Goes Around Comes Around

**Figured I shouldn't make y'all wait too long for this one. ;) **

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 14: What Goes Around Comes Around~

The relaxed mood of the evening had died completely- and hopefully Natsu wasn't next. There was a symphony of panic throughout the whole restaurant once they'd heard the screams comes the six's table, but Lucy ignored it all as she immediately got to work pulling the darts out of Natsu's back. He twitched with each pluck, but aside from that he couldn't move much.

"Oh, is Natsu-san going to be okay?" Juvia asked moments later, flying out of her seat to kneel next to him. Levy had done the same, taking the prerogative and checking all his vitals. She wouldn't be able to heal him, but she _could_ check to see how serious it was.

"Everything seems fine, but he's definitely been sapped of his strength…" Levy remarked, placing two fingers against his neck. She then picked up one of the darts that Lucy had discarded on the floor and admired the now empty viral carefully. "Whatever was in these darts must've just inhibited his magic, given that the only thing off about him is that he's cold and can't move…"

Lucy shuddered where she sat, subconsciously grabbing at Natsu's hand and giving it a squeeze. "And he was hit with _five_ of them…"

"Where'd they even COME from?!" Lily squalled from on top of the table, busy trying to shake Happy out of his drunken stupor. Levy looked up to answer him, but immediately froze.

"I-I don't know, but here comes more-!"

The next round of darts in question were flying straight at Juvia and Levy in particular, yet as the two girls braced themselves, Gray and Gajeel leapt over the table and landed in front of their respective dates, wasting no time in casting protection.

"Ice Make: Shield!" "Iron Dragon's Scales!"

Juvia and Levy inwardly gasped as the incoming darts became imbedded in Gray's ice while also merely plinking off of Gajeel's steely exterior. The males sneered as they glanced around, only able to tell that the shots had come from above, but couldn't seem to locate the source. At the sound of Levy's nervous breathing, Gajeel glanced over his shoulder with an unreadable expression.

"I _told_ ya that ya needed protecting."

Levy's hand flew up to cover her impending shriek as Lucy started panicking next to her, pulling Natsu in closer to her, trying to spur him out of the despondent state.

"God, Natsu, hang on!" she begged, finding his lack of adamant warmth to be foreign and unnerving. "Fight it…_fight it_!"

"T…tryin'…" he struggled to say, the strained sound only making Lucy's heart break even further. She gulped and wrapped her arms tighter around him, hoping that some of her own heat would absorb into him. It couldn't hurt to try…

"Who would do this to you…"

"Black Thorn, obviously," Gajeel grumbled, causing Gray to gain an incredibly suspicious look. "They're strictly after Rain Woman, Shrimp, and Salamander, but I don't believe for a second that they're going to spare anyone that gets in their way…"

"And that would be the _correct_ assumption to make," came the sleazy voice of the shrewd man waltzing up to them, like he'd been waiting for such a cue. His slanted eyes and crooked smirk immediately aimed in Gray's direction as he gave him a two-finger salute. "Looks like we meet again, Ice Boy. I had no idea you were dating the Water Princess…

"Looks like _you_ guys had tabs on us after all, Arsenic," Gray growled, frost billowing around his legs as he took a defensive stance in front of Juvia. Hearts immediately popped out of her eyes as she clasped her hands together and swooned.

'_He didn't deny that we're dating…?! Could this be fate finally working in my favor and sweeping love in my direction?!'_

"You can thank _me_ for that, actually," cackled an approaching puddle, which momentarily solidified into a chortling Mercury. She scanned the group for a hot second before lazily lifting her hand towards Lucy, making the blonde go rigid. "I saw that bimbo over there all dressed up with somewhere to go earlier, and she had a Fairy Tail mark, so I figured she might be of some use…and hot _damn_ was I right!"

"S-so…" Lucy's pupils shrunk as her face paled. "I-It's my fault they found you guys…?"

"What do you people even want with us?!" Levy demanded, rising to her feet with a dramatic swish of her dress and moving in front of Lucy, the action assuring Lucy that no one was blaming her for this. "We've done nothing to you!"

"That's a bold face lie if I ever heard one," snorted Arsenic. "The whole reason you're even here is to celebrate what you've done to us and our guild!"

"You…you're part of the group that attacked the nobleman's party…" Juvia realized, looking paralyzed. However, this quickly wore off as she sprang in front of Gray, suddenly gaining a fierce edge to her expression. "…and you also must be the ones that hurt my beloved Gray-sama yesterday!"

"_And_ Wendy and Carla!" Gray hastily added, but this seemed to fly right over Juvia's head.

"Well, _yeah_…" Arsenic said blatantly, clicking his tongue and raising a hand over his head. "…and now we're about to hurt every single person in this room."

With a brisk snap of his lanky fingers, a purple Magic Circle opened up above everyone, with Gray recognizing the spell and yelling for everyone to take cover. The Acid Rain started coming down far too quickly, and already was everyone screaming in agony. Gajeel seemed to be in the most pain, Levy watching with horror as he was nearly brought to his knees from a few drops alone. However, before anyone could get too injured, Sue had rushed in from nowhere and held her hands up, casting a shield of mirrors as big as she possibly could and told everyone to scramble beneath it. Arsenic just sneered and prepared to make the circle bigger, but Gajeel had enough of standing around and promptly punched the guy straight out of the restaurant window, wasting no time in bounding across the floor and jumping after him.

"Yo, what's goin' on you guys?!" Sue shrieked over the madness, struggling to keep the Mirror Shield intact as the acid slowly eroded away her defenses. Lucy snapped her head over her shoulder and pointed off in some random direction.

"Sue! You have to get all these people to safety! If you do that for us, _we'll_ take care of these creeps! It's us they really want!"

"Gotcha, Baby Doll!" Sue returned with a nod, then hollered for everyone to follow her if they wanted to live. Mercury guffawed and started to melt away their escape route, but Gray froze her hands before she could finish casting the spell. Lucy rose to assist him, only to find herself halted by Gray's outstretched arm, the Ice Mage slowly shaking his head.

"You keep Juvia and Levy out of Black Thorn's hands!" he barked, shoving Mercury towards the door while she was stunned. He then forced her all the way outside with a smack from his Ice Hammer and hurried out after her. Lucy blinked with astonishment as Juvia rose to her feet, fists clenching in front of her and teeth gnashing together.

"Gray-sama is HUUUUUUURT! And Juvia refuses to leave him alone so that tramp can make a move on him! Even if it is romantic that he is fighting on Juvia's behalf…!" she declared, her body turning to water as she too glided out of the restaurant. "I'm coming, Gray my darling~!"

Lucy lifted a hand to stop her, but she retracted it quickly since she knew better than to get between Juvia and Gray. She started to groan until she saw Levy started to leave as well. Lucy shot her hand out and snagged Levy's lithe little wrist before she could get too far, trying not to clutch it too tightly with her sense of dread.

"Levy-chan, what are you doing?! It's bad enough that Juvia is out there, but they're after you too! One wrong move and you might end up like Natsu…or worse."

Levy heard the genuine concern in her best friend's voice and managed a small smile, but still fought against her grip.

"But I _have_ to help Gajeel! He's at a magic disadvantage against that acid guy, and even if he is a dragon slayer, he's still susceptible to a lot of damage if he's not careful…and of course he won't be…" Small tears pinpricked Levy's eyes, and she felt Lucy's grip start to loosen. "He's always saving me and looking out for me…and even if I'm not exactly saving his life in return, the least I can do is have his back! It's about time I start repaying the favor, you know?"

Lucy trembled as she faced Natsu once again- the boy who had done so much for her and only asked that she would keep on smiling in return. The boy who had just taken five darts for her even after she was about to call him out. The boy who she owed so much to and couldn't think anything less than the world of him…

"…yeah, I understand," she eventually sighed, releasing Levy empathetically. "I'll watch over Natsu; _you_ go make me proud."

Levy nodded as she determinedly bounced on her heels. "I'll do my best!"

Lucy was slightly amused at the way Levy jumped out of the broken window like Gajeel had, and doubly so when Pantherlily had leapt off the table top and morphed into Battle Mode, drawing his sword and giving Lucy a quick nod.

"I'm going out to support both sides if they need it," he explained, knowing that both Happy and Natsu were in safe hands. "I can already tell this isn't going to be pretty…"

Lucy agreed with Lily- they were going to need his support more than she did. He was gone in a flash just like everyone else, and the restaurant had been entirely emptied out by Sue, leaving just her and her two partners behind.

"Not pretty, huh?" she murmured, stealing a final glance from Natsu before letting her eyes fall regrettably closed. "It already is…"

"D…don't call me ugly…"

Lucy's heart jumped at the improved sound of Natsu's voice, stuck in disbelief for a moment before smothering him in a hug out of relief alone. He let out some muffled response before she allowed herself to pull away, eyes shining as she beamed.

"You're alive…!"

"Tch, you thought I was dying? I ain't going out by some _measly darts_…I've got a blazing glory waiting for me, probably," he chuckled, and everything seem fine until his face contorted and his body spasmed. Lucy asked precisely what was wrong; Natsu hastily shook his head. "Can't…fire…something's wrong with…magic…"

"Your magic's been stunted..." Lucy said sadly, unable to help but feel responsible. "That's why you're so cold-"

"Duck," he choked out in a hoarse whisper, using a sudden burst of strength to wrap his arm around her and pull her into his torso, her face thudding against the toned chest beneath his dress shirt. She immediately flushed at the compromising pose and how close their faces were- but the remark she had in mind got lost in her throat as another three darts zipped over Lucy and clattered against the table. The sudden sound made Happy spring up, striking a very drunken fighting pose.

"Wassa goin' on?" he yelped, glancing over the edge of the table to see Lucy on top of Natsu beneath the table. "…ew, why are you two making out on the floor?! That's pretty saucy if ya ask me."

Natsu turned a new shade of red as Lucy hastily shook a fist at the cat, who was tittering behind a paw about how cute they looked.

"Happy, this is no time for jokes! We're under attack by two people from a dark guild and-"

…wait.

Arsenic and Mercury were both _outside_ fighting, and there was definitely no way that five members of Fairy Tail would let them escape back into the restaurant…

…so who was shooting the darts?

"The best way to hit your target is to not even aim at them, you know."

Lucy went to rise back to her feet after catching wind of that chilling voice, but Natsu refused to let her up, even going so far as to clutch her closer to him. They watched as a flash of white dropped down from the ceiling, turning out to be a stunning-looking male dressed in a white suit with messy black hair and grey eyes. There was obviously a dart shooter jetting out his sleeve, and yet Lucy knew that probably wasn't the only weapon he had handy…

Once he steadied himself, he stood straight and adjusted his jacket, greeting them with a casual smile.

"Wh-who're you?" Happy managed to stammer out, with Natsu not even caring who the guy was before baring his fangs at him. Lucy watched as the young man lifted his arm and ran his fingers through his unkempt locks, the action shifting the collar of his shirt and revealing the Black Thorn symbol on his collarbone.

"I go by many names, actually…the Sharp Shooter, the Whisper in the Night, the Stuff of Nightmares, the former guild master of a now disbanded assassin guild, and now the strongest member of the dark guild Black Thorn…" He beamed and tilted his head, Lucy disturbed by how much that smile managed to resemble Natsu's. "…but I _suppose_ the one you're looking for is Potence Grande. A pleasure to be acquainted with you, Salamander, although our encounter will unfortunately be brief and strictly business."

Lucy's face twitched as she finally managed to wrestle out of Natsu's grip, catching herself as she knelt on the ground and glared up at Potence.

"If you think I'm going to let you kill him-!"

"Oh, I don't want him dead, as _easy_ as that would be," Potence said aloofly, adjusting his cufflinks. "You see, Arsenic and Mercury were sent to get back at the two girls who directly led to their teammate Rocco's arrest- I don't know what they plan to do with the Solid Script Mage, but I know it's not going to be pleasant when that Water Mage is nothing but a soggy smear on the sidewalk…"

Natsu's pupils shrunk as he started to move, but as his body was trying to ignite with anger and couldn't, his muscles locked up and sent him smacking against the ground with a frustrated grunt. Potence smirked at the dragon slayer's helpless state as he turned back to Lucy, who was glaring back with one hand at her hip and the other held in front of her.

"I suppose you're wondering why_ I'm_ here then…" he yawned, lazily stretching his arms out as he tossed a wink Lucy's way. "I'd hate to bore you with expository details, even though I can tell you're the curious type just through those cute brown eyes of yours."

Lucy cringed uncomfortably at the unwanted compliment, while Natsu practically threw himself forward, snarling and trying desperately to move but was betrayed by his own limbs. Potence waved a finger and tsked.

"Ah, ah, ah…! I shot you up with anti-Ethernano, meaning that you can't draw up any of your magic power, and it works exceedingly well since you're a Fire Dragon Slayer and therefore finely attuned to your element. Especially when you're emotional," he hummed and shoved his hands into his pockets, thriving in the way Natsu's face tensed up. "You think I haven't done my research on you, Natsu Dragneel? Out of all the known dragon slayers, your name's the biggest…and there's a lot of people out there who would _love_ to pay me big to help them get their hands on you. Hence why I can't kill you…but I'll come close."

Potence hastily dragged his hands out of his pockets, throwing two small round orbs in Natsu's direction. He was surprised to say in the least when Lucy suddenly drew out of her whip and smacked the orbs away with a sickening crack, redirecting them right back at him just in time for them to explode.

"…um, just _where_ were you keeping that?" Natsu casually asked out of the blue, but Lucy ignored him and glanced over her shoulder while Potence was distracted.

"Happy," Lucy hissed under her breath, with the cat yowling and pulling at his ears.

"Argh, ya gotta yell so loud, woman?!"

"I assure you, you haven't heard 'loud' from me," Lucy declared with a dark aura about her, making Happy's fur stand on end straight down to his tail. "Get Natsu out of here- he obviously can't fight, and I'm not about to let this tight wad take advantage of that."

"Lucy, this…this _peacock's_ a trained assassin!" Natsu squalled, lurching in pain after trying to grab at her too abruptly in his panic. "He's probably armed to the teeth with…things! Really deadly _things_!"

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at him. "And you think I can't take care of myself?"

"Yes! Wait, no…? I mean, _you can _take care of yourself!" Natsu wailed as he gripped at the table for support. "I just don't want you alone with a guy like him!"

"Yeah well…" She cracked her whip then stretched it in front of her, narrowing her eyes dangerously. "I don't want you alone with him either. Now, Happy, so help me if you don't get Natsu out of here this instant, I'll make sure you never eat another fish aga-"

"WAAAAAAAH!" Happy screamed, bolting off the table in a blue flash and snagging the collar of Natsu's suit. "A-AYE SIIIIIIIR!"

His flight pattern was an erratic mess, but he still managed to get Natsu in the air, who had no choice but to limply hang there as he was taken farther and farther away from Lucy.

"Sorry Natsu," Lucy hummed, smiling sadly. "I'm saving _you _this time."

Eventually the dust from the explosion around Potence cleared, revealing that he had reflected the detonation with a glowing blue shield that had been projected by something around his wrist. Once he called the shield back he wasted no time in bothering with Lucy, instead loading his Dart Sniper with a different sort of ammo and firing it.

The shot was sent haywire as his wrist was suddenly pulled to the right just seconds before firing, the dart crashing into a distant table. Potence blinked in astonishment before a grin spread across his face, taking in Lucy's enraged state as she yanked on her whip and pulled him forward.

"As if I'd let you do that."

"…huh, you're feisty. I admire that," Potence hummed, taking hold of the whip and pulling _Lucy_ closer. He leer over her just to intimidate her; Lucy wavered the tiniest bit, coaxing a new grin out of him. "But you should know, I won't go easy on you just because you're beautiful. Maybe I'll use you as bait for Salamander- seems to me he'd break his neck just for you. But you're _way _out of his league, aren't you?"

Lucy cringed as she tried to loosen her whip from him, but she couldn't wedge it from his grip. He had used her technique against her…!

"You don't know me…you don't know anything about us…!" Lucy hissed, not liking how he kept dragging her nearer and nearer to him. "Him and I…are members of Fairy Tail, and if you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!"

"I'm well aware of how Fairy Tail always gets even and takes revenge for their nakama…" Potence held his hand towards the floor, Lucy noticing the glint of a blade at his wrist. "But oh, when another guild goes and does the same thing, suddenly it's a _crime_…you're a buncha filthy hypocrites!"

"Nrgh…Fairy Tail fights on its own brand of justice! We fight in the name of others…we fight for our beliefs…!"

"That's funny," Potence murmured, beginning to make his move. "…so do we."

He brought his arm up and swung the blade at her head; she ducked at the last moment, her breath hitching when it snapped the ribbon keeping her bun in place. Once she was low she thrust her leg out –"LUCY SWEEP KICK!"- and knocked Potence's feet out from under him, allowing her to fully regain her whip and roll away from him. He up righted himself quickly, hardly deterred by the attack, yet quirked a smirk when Lucy went for her keys and threateningly held one out.

"This…could be fun," Potence chuckled as he stood back up, readying his fists with a coy look. "You should feel privileged- as a killer, I don't normally entertain my prey, but I think I like you."

Lucy's grin matched his.

"You're not going to like me much when I'm through with you."

"Then let's see what you've got."

. . .

Meanwhile, Gajeel was already taking heavy swings at Arsenic, the Acid Mage chortling each and every time he managed to expertly weave his way around Gajeel's far-reaching iron arms, the two of them moving so fluently and quickly like the battle was choreographed. Well, Arsenic was anyway- Gajeel was fighting a battle with the Acid Mage…and a battle with his own clothes at the same time.

"Argh…I can't move in this god damn monkey suit!" Gajeel complained, pausing his assault to ravenously rip the sleeves right off his suit, discarding them somewhere on the ground and freeing up his biceps. Gray, rushing by Gajeel while evading Mercury, found the time to shoot him a disbelieving look.

"Oi, who's the stripper now?!"

"Shut yer trap, Ice Pants! This is_ practical_ stripping!"

"Is that so? Then let me help you with that!" Arsenic snickered, striking a casting pose. "Radioactive Ray!"

Gajeel immediately summoned his Iron Scales again to put up a defense against the erosion attack, confident that'd be plenty to decrease the damage. After all, very little managed to get past his iron, and he put a lot of trust in that. …but when it seared into his now unclothed arms, the acidity _stung_ his metallic body and actually made him howl in pain, grabbing at his arm to survey the damage done to his scales.

"Oi, what the hell-?"

"You'll be nothin' but rust when I'm finished with you!" Arsenic called, twirling around in the air and knocking Gajeel in the head while his guard was down. Gajeel didn't go flying very far, but it didn't matter when Mercury melted the spot where he landed and trapped him in place. Arsenic spat on the ground and proceed to glower at Mercury as she flitted away.

"Hey, he was all mine!"

"Tch, last time I lend _you_ a helping hand, then," sighed Mercury, running her fingers through her silvery hair as Gajeel ripped himself out of the ground. "I just had a little spare time since I'm getting bored dealing with this chump again-"

"I'M NOT A CHUMP!" wailed Gray, throwing himself at Mercury with reckless abandon. "Ice Make: Trident!"

He took the newly formed three pronged spear and shoved it straight at Mercury, with the Melt Mage merely rolling her eyes as it pierced through her liquid torso. Gray looked a little disturbed as Mercury suddenly twisted around the handle, winding herself close enough to punch him in the face and send him back. He yelled as he skidded along the ground, Mercury pulling out the weapon and twirling it above her head before melting it way into a liquid orb she could manipulate.

"You obviously haven't learned from last time, have you?" she scoffed, turning the one ball into three. "Oh well…this time I'll just have to make sure I don't miss!"

Mercury hurled the orbs forward as she melted the ground around Gray then raised it high, creating gooey walls that Gray wouldn't readily be able to escape from. Gray tilted his head back and saw the trio of spheres coming at him like meteors, cursing when the shield he created was melted right on the spot. He covered his head to the sound of Mercury's heckling laughter, but felt a genuine chill run down his already cold spine with what happened next.

"WATER SLICER!"

Gray dared to look up as Mercury's orbs were cut by a sharp wave of water, with Juvia flying overhead and landing in front of Gray's little trap. Her shoes hit the ground with a defiant clap, spheres of water at the ready in her hands. Of course, the trap dissipated with Mercury's shock upon seeing the Water Mage willingly throwing herself to the wolves, but this melted into a sneer as she laughed.

"So I get to throw down with the princess herself…what, did you know your knight in icy armor wouldn't be able to save you?!"

"You will not speak about Gray-sama in such an indecorous way!" Juvia hissed, her body literally boiling in rage. "Gray-sama is one of the most brilliant fighters Juvia has ever seen…but he does not need to fight for her sake. You want to take Juvia away? Then this is_ her_ fight!"

"Juvia, _please_," Gray begged, trying not to sound too pleading by failed as the concern bled into his tone anyway. "These people don't just want to take you away…they're a dark guild; they don't play by normal rules."

Juvia froze as she looked over her shoulder; Gray tackled her to ground when Mercury shot a hunk of melted concrete at them. Juvia blushed deeply as Gray flipped them so he was staring down at her, and she could see the graveness in his eyes.

"The last thing I need is someone else I care about getting severely hurt because I couldn't protect them."

"But Gray-sama-" Juvia gulped, pausing to turn her body to water, envelop Gray, and shelter him from an oncoming Mercury. Juvia washed her away with a hastily casted wave of water before releasing Gray. Now soaked, his bangs draped into his face, Juvia smiling as she wiped them out of his eyes. "…they've already hurt you, and Juvia feels the way you do."

Gray returned the smile as he assisted her back up, both of them turning to Mercury who was bubbling with her own fury, melting a lamppost and reshaping it into a spear. Juvia and Gray immediately went back to back as the Ice Mage chuckled to himself.

"…guess we both have a bit of a problem, huh?"

"I suppose so…" Juvia couldn't resist a giggle. "…but if we work together, we can protect one another and fight at the same time!"

"Sounds good to me."

Juvia squealed and clapped her hands, prancing around with the floating hearts making a comeback.

"Let's destroy her with the power of our love, Gray-sama!"

Gray's eye twitched as Mercury charged right at them with a killer look in her eyes, until his lips pulled into a nearly feral sneer before crouching low.

"Heh, guess we'll just have to see."

. . .

Gajeel was losing ground quickly; it was nearly impossible to defend when his normal methods for doing so were rendered useless, and getting close was just_ asking_ for trouble…

Also asking for trouble was Levy dropping in from above, landing on Arsenic's back with a wild battle cry and tugging ruthlessly on his hair.

"Take a shower, fleabag! Gajeel may be rugged and rough, but at least he appreciates good hygiene!"

Gajeel just gaped with bewildered amusement at Levy's attempt an insult as the Solid Script Mage back flipped off of Arsenic with unexpected agility, twirling around and summoning a spell at Arsenic's back.

"Lily, catch! Solid Script: Drill!"

The word 'DRILL' appeared in midair, stripped in gray and black. In the time it took Arsenic to turn around, the word has started spinning forward and literally drilled into Arsenic's side, pushing him forward. As he stumbled to regain his balance, Pantherlily bounded in from the sky as well, battering Arsenic back with the face of his blade and temporarily discombobulating him. Gajeel gripped his arm as he approached them, Levy beaming while Lily proudly slung his sword over his shoulder.

"You looked like you needed my help more- I doubt my sword would work well against the woman with the liquid body," Lily remarked, only to blanch when a shot of acid whizzed by his head.

"Your sword isn't going to do well against me either!" Arsenic bellowed, firing another shot of acid. Lily ducked again and watched as it landed on a manhole and promptly eroded it away.

The black Exceed immediately launched into a panic.

"Oooooh no! No way am I letting you harm my beautiful baby!" Lily wailed, retracting his sword on the spot and sheathing it again.

"Are ya kiddin' me?!" Gajeel boomed as Lily decided he'd rather rely on his physical combat skills. The Exceed gave Gajeel a blank look.

"I love that sword, man. I'd never be able to find one that suits me so well again-!"

"Not _that_!" Gajeel hissed, gesturing wildly at the girl beside him with his good hand. "Why'd ya bring her to the battle?! She's the whole reason we're fightin'!"

"He didn't bring me here; I came on my own accord!" Levy exclaimed back, unable to keep her face from turning red as she cast 'COOL' to ease the burn on Gajeel's arm. He yowled in agony again as Levy placed her hands on her hips. "I should question you for keeping the fact that Black Thorn was after me a secret…but I understand that you just didn't want something like this to happen."

Gajeel glanced away as Lily threw himself at Arsenic, the two of them throwing punches and kicks at each other and matching blow for blow. His stare hardened into a grimace.

"…yeah, I was supposta protect ya, and I can't even touch that guy without my skin getting melted off."

He felt somewhat pathetic at that point, feeling a bit outmatched without even really trying, until Levy punched him in the shoulder –okay, _attempted_ a punch- and gave him a look of determination.

"What kind of quitter talk is _that_? I know I didn't ask some weaksauce dragon slayer to dinner with me, so who is this guy-?!"

"Oi, _Shrimp_-!"

"Who cares if you can't protect me?! It's not about keeping each other safe! We should be taking the problems that we share and facing them together, even if it may be hard…" Levy clenched her fists and tried to keep herself from trembling. "You can't always fight my battles, Gajeel…you promised that you'd make me big one day, but how can I grow if you're keeping me down?"

They both went silent, only to have it broken when Lily flew between the two of them, rocketing backwards and slamming into the wall of the restaurant. The poor cat's eyes were spinning around in his head as he slumped forward, popping out of battle mode. Levy cried out Lily's name as Gajeel turned to face Arsenic, who merely waved back with a smug expression. Gajeel barred his fangs, and through his pain turned his arms into Iron Swords.

"First ya threaten Shrimp for some pretty low reasons…then you practically maim my cat…yer just _asking_ me to cut you down, aren't ya?!"

"Not doing a very good job so far," Arsenic scoffed, but that only encouraged a chuckle out of Gajeel. The Acid Mage frowned as Levy struck a casting pose, not expecting such a fierce look from someone so…short. Arsenic's gaze ripped from Levy to Gajeel, who no longer looked like he was about to fail.

"Guess I was just warming up for the real fight. Ya ain't seen _nothing _yet."

Arsenic found himself bothered by the blistering confidence that suddenly coated Gajeel's words, and he unexpectedly started backing away from the duo. This resulted in him bumping into Mercury, the two of them exchanging a distressed look before collectively sighing.

"So the fairies have some bite to them after all…" Mercury murmured, not liking their situation at all. Arsenic rolled his eyes.

"Toldja interrupting their date was a stupid idea, tch."

* * *

**Next time, it's Gruvia vs Mercury, Gajevy vs Arsenic, and Lucy (_and not Natsu?!_) vs Potence! ...whether that happens all at once or over the course of multiple chapters remains to be seen (probably multiple chaps knowing me), so stay tuned! **


	16. Is That Beating For Here or To Go?

**Guest: ***beams* I love how closely you pay attention to the little things, especially when it comes to Natsu! And as for the story being a "gem among rocks" ehehe...I just wanted to do something different from everything I'd already seen, that's all... Even the ending's probably not going to be what anyone's anticipating. *grins deviously*

**Kyogan-Saori: **You're welcome, and thank _you_!

**M: **Thanks! I admittedly had a bit of trouble getting in the groove writing the scenes, but I hope the outcome meets your expectations! :)

**. . .**

**ACK, I've been having one hell of a week so far, and I apologize if I missed any review replies. I lost track of what I responded to and what I didn't this time around... (and before any one else asks, Lucy and Natsu will crop up again next time, and I did _not_ forget about Erza. ;D) **

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 15: Would You Like That Beating For Here or To Go?~

"I already know your tricks…it won't do any good against me!"

Mercury's striking blue eyes were crazed as she raised her hand up over her head, squealing gleefully at the way Gray was once again rendered helpless. He'd predictably taken one for the team against the Water Mage's wishes, which then allowed Mercury to separate him from Juvia. She whisked him across the remarkably empty street, the sight of her power sending any bystanders running away in shock and terror. Gray was once more putty in her hand, taking any hopes he had of landing a blow on her and turning them to mush.

"I told you once before to just hand her over, and I wouldn't have had to do this!" she shrieked, whipping Gray upwards by his waist with a whip made from concrete. Gray gritted his teeth as he struggled against the grip, hurrying to freeze the concrete so he could weaken it.

"And I told you I'll never give up my nakama!"

He hollered as he managed to bust out of confinement, but when he conjured up an ice platform to land on Mercury melted it and used it to swallow him up, laughing all the while. She was taking far too much pleasure in tormenting Gray, leaving her completely unaware to everything else- particularly the whole reason why she was there to begin with.

"Let go of him now!" Juvia demanded at the top of her lungs, suddenly appearing behind Mercury and scorching her with a spray of boiling hot water. Mercury immediately screeched and lost her hold on Gray, causing him to freefall and nearly hit the ground. Juvia left Mercury screaming and surfed over to Gray, lashing out a water tentacle to grab him and pull him closer to her.

"WATER LOCK!" Juvia called, and the next thing Gray knew he was placed safely on the ground, surrounded by a dome of water. He looked around carefully, chest heaving as he was nearly out of breath from being tossed about like a ragdoll, but he was somewhat reassured by the light smile Juvia wore as she held her hands out and kept the dome intact. She left enough of an air pocket for them to stand up in, but Gray currently couldn't feel his legs.

"Argh…thanks for the catch…"

"Gray-sama should know better than to throw himself into the line of fire when he is at a disadvantage!" Juvia hissed, cringing as Mercury attempted to pop the bubble of water outside. "We don't have much time…you must tell Juvia what you know about her!"

Gray gazed at Juvia before glancing away slightly.

"…she's a lot like you actually."

Juvia's eyes went expressively flat. "Are you insinuating that Juvia is _insane_?!"

"NO! Well, not this time-"

"HEY!"

"-_I meant_ that Mercury's magic isn't all that different to yours! Her body isn't solid thus it's near impossible to land a physical hit on her, plus as long as she's on solid ground she's got the environmental advantage as well!"

"Then we must get her into the air." Juvia blinked at him like he was stupid but wasn't going to say so; Gray immediately flushed as he hadn't even thought of that. "Obviously Gray-sama's magic is going to be useless, but Juvia should be able to finish her with a decisive strike."

She gained a fleetingly calculating expression before beaming down at Gray.

"That being said, Juvia needs you to cover her though. Juvia thinks the loophole to Mercury's magic is that she cannot focus on multiple targets at once, so dealing with one of us one after the other should throw her off. It wouldn't even matter if she melts your ice."

As if to confirm her suspicion, Mercury shrieked even louder from outside the dome, and Juvia could feel it start to leak and cave. She panicked and looked down at Gray to get his conformation…and found him staring in surprised awe at her.

"You're brilliant," he said like he had just recognized this, Juvia turning red on the spot. "Didn't realize you were such a tactician…"

"Eeeeek, J-Juvia doesn't…w-well, I-I um…I was made one of the Element Four for a_ reason_ you know," she managed to cough out.

"I guess it makes sense. A lot of the time you're standing on the sidelines of fights and I see you mumbling things, and now I know what that is…" He quirked an eyebrow. "Why aren't you on the frontlines more often?"

"Because I don't really enjoy fighting…" Juvia murmured quietly, but it passed quickly as she steeled herself. "But Juvia will do anything for Gray-sama and her friends! Now…are you ready?"

"As I'll ever be," Gray smirked back, crouching low and readying his fists. Juvia took a deep breath, waited for Mercury to come running at the dome…then fired off a stream of water and sent Mercury flying into the wall of a nearby building.

With the way clear, Gray rolled out of the Water Lock and once again covered the street in ice, taking away at least a little of Mercury's field advantage. Mercury, who had melted to absorb some of the impact, peeled herself slowly off the wall and staggered back to her feet with a scowl.

"Filthy pests!" she sneered, catching Gray skating in front of her with an arrow knocked in an ice bow and ready to fire. She held her hand out and melted it before it even came close to her, throwing it back at Gray –who ducked- and leaving her open to be grabbed by Juvia's water whip. A startled look crossed her face as she was suddenly dragged across the ice, Juvia standing in the middle of a ring of water with a serious expression, not looking the least bit remorseful as she whipped Mercury into a light post. Mercury groaned from the contact, then smirked wickedly as she melted and melded with Juvia's water whip, visibly racing through the water and closing the distance between her and Juvia.

"Gray-sama, freeze it!" Juvia shrieked, Gray immediately gliding over and blowing his icy cold breath in her direction. He froze Juvia's ring of water, preventing Mercury from getting too close to Juvia and making her spring back out again. The second Mercury landed on the ground again, she melted the ring of ice and reshaped it into a loop of spikes of her own, stabbing them into Juvia…

…who merely collapsed into a puddle and reformed in front of it with a displeased look. Mercury blinked in surprise, then tilted her head like she was accepting a challenge.

"So the rumors are true…you really are made out of water," she stated callously, starting to lean backwards at an angle that would be impossible for anyone else. Juvia merely lowered her eyes.

"If you're amused because you are comparing yourself to me, I don't appreciate it."

"Oh, it has nothing to do with me," Mercury smirked, winding her way around Juvia. Juvia shot out her hand in an attempt at a punch; Mercury caught it and pulled her close, rooting Juvia to the spot. "I'm just entertained because the boys back at Black Thorn were making bets about how you could have possibly taken out Rocco, one of our best…"

Gray interrupted the conversation by blasting Juvia into the air with a pillar of ice, which enraged Mercury and caused her conjure up four blades out of concrete. She pinned Gray to the ground with them, melting them in place. Her long silver hair whipped over her shoulder as she redirected her attention towards Juvia, who was all set to crash down onto her in a watery dive bomb attack. Mercury rolled away as Juvia landed with a splash; Juvia was then knocked out of the way by Mercury slapping her with a melted rock.

"You're going to pay! Our whole operation fell apart because of you! You're the reason Rocco was thrown in jail!"

Gray skid in front of Mercury and started shooting Ice Lances at her; Mercury obviously melted them all and reconstructed them into throwing knives, letting out some crazy screech when she tossed them back at Gray. Gray gaped and immediately started booking it, thankfully pushed out of the way by a wave of water from Juvia. Juvia scowled at the mistreatment of her Gray before forming a whip of water on her arm, running straight at Mercury and trying to get in as many lashes as she could.

"That man was about to kill the nobleman and he deserved what was coming to him! You should be pleased that he didn't receive worse- do not blame Juvia for merely doing her job!"

Mercury liquefied herself and absorbed Juvia's latest attack, once again racing up the water spout and using her momentum to push Juvia down, embedding her into the ground at a torturously slow pace. Mercury grinned with delicious conceit at Juvia's look of fear, but her cracking voice told a different story.

"He was my partner…he was our teammate…our guild gave misfits of all shapes and sizes a place to call home, and now he can't come back!" Juvia's face contorted as she felt herself sinking deeper and deeper into the street by a now lightly crying Mercury. "N-Not that different from Fairy Tail, right?"

Juvia was caught off guard for a moment, only saved by Gray temporarily freezing Mercury into a block of ice while she was distracted, then pulled her off of the stunned Juvia.

"Don't you dare compare your dark guild to Fairy Tail!" he declared, breaking his vow to Erza as he shredded off his many layers of dress clothes to make a statement, leaving him in his belt, pants, and shoes. Juvia released a deep swoon as Mercury merely stared in amusement, twisting around a shot of ice Gray flung at her afterwards. "Your guild is despicably underhanded and has no issue with squandering lives, and we will _never_ be on as low of level as Black Thorn!"

Gray then founded his personal space being invaded by the fluid silver-haired woman, warping the ground to bump him into the air before smacking him down again with his own ice. His exposed torso and revealed bandage made direct contact on the ground, and his eyes nearly popped out in pain as Mercury threw her head back and cackled.

"Take off as many clothes as you want- you still can't touch me!" she laughed. "And besides, if you really wanted a girl's attention with those pitiful skills to compensate for, the pants would have to go too-"

Before Mercury could even finish her thought, it had inexplicably started to rain…and only above her, at that.

She then made the mistake of making eye contact with Juvia of the Great Sea, whom had once looked beautiful in her evening gown but was now something out of nightmares. Mercury defensively took a step back, only to find that the cloud of rain followed her.

"Juvia becomes stronger in the rain…and it only rains when Juvia is upset…" The Rain Woman lifted her arms at her sides, the wall of water moving under her command. "And you have _upset_ Juvia!"

Next thing Mercury knew, she'd been swept up into a huge whirlpool and spiraled in place thanks to a screaming Juvia, but she sprang out of the center and turned herself into liquid, smacking into Juvia and splatting them both into the ground.

"WATER CLAW!"

Juvia solidified quickly and brought her arm forward, gloved fingers scraping at the air and bringing boiling hot water along with them. Mercury popped back up just in time for the attack to gauge into her, sending her rolling across the street and gasping in shock at actually being struck. Juvia's magic…didn't consist of solid attacks. Mercury wasn't immune to them…!

As she gripped at her torn arm, she angrily melted and flipped half the street over in anger; however, Juvia had mysteriously vanished and somehow escaped the Melt Mage's wrath.

"She's weakened now! Hit her from above!" Gray called, creating one ice platform after another that Juvia used as stairs to get to higher ground. She quickly leapt from one to another as Mercury tried her best to melt them before Juvia could get too terribly high. Yet as she was yelling profanities, Mercury went rigid when she felt Gray's cold breath against her neck. She was paralyzed by the sudden sensation, too stunned to even whirl around and hit him.

"I've told you _once_, I've told you _twice_, and I'm going to say this just one _final_ time…" he whispered darkly, slamming his fist into his palm. "…I will never let you harm the people I care about."

When Mercury finally found the strength to gape over her shoulder with wide eyes, she was already catapulted into the air by a rapid-moving Ice Pillar, Gray cutting it off and flinging Mercury upwards with the momentum alone. She naturally screamed, not enjoying the sensation of freefalling, and felt entirely out of her element now that nothing solid was within her reach. No foundation…no way to support herself…

At some point Mercury had flipped upside down, and widened her eyes to see Juvia standing in all her glory atop a glittering column of ice, dress and hair whipping about behind her as a tsunami of water danced under her command. Without so much as a blink Juvia crashed her hands together in front of her, a blue Magic Circle appearing before her…and that's when Mercury knew it was over.

"WATER NEBULA!"

A torrent of water poured out of the circle, coming out in droves and enveloping Mercury in an unforgiving typhoon that joined with gravity to bring her back down to the ground. There was little Mercury could do to fight against it; just resisting the force in and of itself was physically taxing, and she was almost relieved to hit the concrete…if it wasn't for the body-wide ache she was now feeling.

Gray watched, a little stunned, as Mercury twitched on the ground, even going over there once to poke at her and see if she was still alive. Turns out she was just unconscious but still…she had been so animated before, and then she reduced to…_this_.

Juvia really WAS powerful.

No wonder Black Thorn felt threatened by her.

"…Juvia!" Gray then called, turning to lower the ice pillar Juvia was currently perched on. However, he wasn't even needed; Juvia lowered herself down on a wave of water as she beamed over at him. Once she was back on the street, she immediately barreled toward Gray and threw her arms around him, the momentum of her jump causing Gray to spin around twice before setting her on the ground and holding her steady at the waist.

"We did it, Gray-sama! We beat her!" Juvia cheered, gushing and squealing like a schoolgirl.

"Aaaaaah," Gray grunted, which Juvia so wasn't anticipating, nor did she anticipate the sudden hug she found herself in. He was cold as expected –and still shirtless- but it definitely felt nice. "That's one less person I have to worry about getting their hands on you…"

Juvia gaped like a fish. "Gray-sama…worried about Juvia?"

"Um, yeah!" Gray firmly gabbed Juvia's shoulders and looked her in the eye. "I've been fretting about this all week! The reason I even got into a fight with those creeps in the first place was because they were mainly targeting you and I wanted to be sure you were safe…"

"But Juvia can handle herself!"

"I know! I know…" Gray sighed, running his hands through his raven-colored locks afterwards. He looked as though he wanted to say more on the subject, but his fleeting thought faded as a light smirk grew on his face. "I gotta say, you did indeed do most of the legwork though. …I kinda like watching you fight. It's impressive."

Juvia's eyes lit up. "Juvia shall fight a whole country for you Gray-sama!"

"…that's not what I was trying to implicate," Gray deadpanned, and Juvia coughed nervously afterward. "I can definitely understand why they're so hell-bent on going after you."

"Yes, well…that was because Juvia took down one of their more prominent members, and she just did it again." Her eyes sagged sadly. "Mercury wasn't exactly wrong…Juvia did get her teammate arrested. Bad person or not, Juvia still feels guilty…"

"And that's okay."

"Mm?" Juvia blinked and realized her eyes had been damping up, but ignored it as she glanced up to Gray giving her that smile that never failed to make her heart thrum a million times a minute.

"It just means you're a good person."

"Gray-sama, I…I…"

She took a small step towards him and stood on her tiptoes to reach his cheek…but just before anything worthwhile could happen, Gray suddenly grabbed her and made them both duck under a stray blast of acid. The duo looked horrified as they turned to face Arsenic, muttering many curses under his breath.

"How the hell did I miss? I should've known that brain-dead Mercury wouldn't be able to handle it…guess I gotta take care of her myself…"

"Gray-sama," Juvia murmured, her exhaustion becoming very apparent in that moment. "Juvia doesn't have much magic power left…"

"Nrgh…I don't really either…" Gray still shuffled closer next to Juvia and glowered at Arsenic. "I think I can still punch him out if I need to."

"Oi, you _had_ your fight!" Gajeel barked out the blue, swooping from nowhere and kneeing Arsenic painfully in the stomach. "Don't worry about it- me, Shrimp, and Lil' still got enough fight left in us to pummel this punk. You recharge your wimpy self and just look out for Rain Woman- I'm not letting this creep lay a hand on her or the Shrimp!"

"…what about Natsu-san?"

"Eh, that's Bunny Girl's problem. I'm sure she'll find a way to wake up Sleeping Beauty in there gihihi…"

Levy rolled her eyes and cast Solid Script: Glue to stick Arsenic in place as Gray and Juvia scrambled away. While it didn't hold for long –he burned right through and mocked the pitiful attempt- it was just enough time for the duo to get away and recharge their magic. Levy took a defiant stance as Gajeel stood over her, the two of them just asking him to come at them again.

"So I'll admit the two of you haven't been pushovers," Arsenic sneered, slowly shifting back into a casting pose as glowing green magic danced at his fingertips. "But you've stood in my way long enough!"

He held his hands out like his fingers were guns, then fired off two rounds of Acid Bullets at the currently exposed Gajeel; Levy cartwheeled in front of him and swiped her fingers out in front of her.

"Solid Script: Fire!"

A red flaming 'FIRE' was spelled into existence, growing large enough to encompass the bullets and combust them upon making contact. The following explosion was enough to backfire on Arsenic, not only having him once again missing his target but also getting caught in a blast that forced him backwards. Gajeel silently balked while Levy looked proud of herself and Lily hovered between them.

"I've dealt with an Acid Magic user before- it's extremely hard to get in close on them, which is why you two have been having trouble getting solid hits off this guy," Lily explained seriously. "I'd say that one of you should focus on getting openings so the other can jump in to attack, but this guy can cover a large area with his magic…getting by him _and _catching him off guard won't be easy."

"Blah, blah, blah; why can't we just rush him?" Gajeel complained as Lily sweat dropped. Levy rolled her eyes again as she took out her Light Pen and sketched out a new plan in midair.

"Because _that's_ worked out well for us so far, and besides, you know you're a sitting duck if he gets a direct hit on you. His Acid Magic is highly corrosive." She frowned as she turned over her to give her date a serious look. "I know you're not used to it Gajeel, but you'd be better off as support here."

"_Support_?!" Gajeel balked as if this was some sort of foreign concept. "I wanna thrown down with this guy!"

"You will, but you can't be rash about it or he'll just counter you and you'll suffer again. You obviously do more damage than I do though, so I'll work on getting you some openings. My magic will work excellently for distractions."

Gajeel grunted under his breath as he couldn't argue, which meant he consented to Levy's well thought-out logic, as Lily hopped onto Levy's shoulder and put his hands on his hips.

"I'll lend my assistance too," the black Exceed declared. "I won't risk my sword and my physical strength may be ineffective, but I can still fly!"

"Okay," Levy nodded. "Then we've got a plan."

Gajeel groaned as he felt so out of his comfort zone, but he knew he was going to have to trust Levy on this one. He watched as Lily flew her down the street to close the distance between herself and Arsenic, twin marigold Magic Circles at the ready in her palms. Arsenic, being an impatient man, slammed his fists into the ground and sent deadly-looking geysers of acid shooting into the air, figuring that Lily would fly straight into one.

However, Lily evaded each and every spire like a pro, with Levy slinging Solid Script: Bombs at him in retaliation. He just barely missed being blown to bits by the attacks, forced into a crouching position a distance away as he sneered up at the determined Levy above.

"You're not going to hurt my friends anymore!"

Arsenic grunted at how he yet again failed to land one of his attacks –this girl was a spry one, especially with the inexplicable flying cat- but he gained a greasy smirk as though nothing was wrong at all.

"You know, we would've just been okay with the Water Mage…but even if you're not the big prize, I'm sure the guild can think of a few _fun_ things to do with tiny little you-"

Arsenic was suddenly kicked over the head and sent flying forcefully into a building. Levy proceeded to wave her little fists in agitation.

"Gajeel! You weren't supposed to attack yet!"

"Sorry, my foot slipped," the dragon slayer coughed shamelessly, with Levy smacking her forehead. "All yours, Shrimp!"

Levy released a heavy groan before casting her arms out over head, just in time for Arsenic to bounce his way out of the building and fire off a bunch of Sludge Bombs. Spherical blobs of green goo emerged into existence and hurled in Levy's direction; Lily let her go so the orbs could fly in the space between them. However, they boomeranged back around and came flying back at Levy.

"Solid Script: Barrier!"

A large blue 'BARRIER' barricaded Levy against the onslaught from behind, although she was caught off guard when Arsenic came running at her with glowing purple fists. She hastily ducked towards the ground, not strong enough to kick his legs out from under him, but more than able to roll around behind him and make her fingers glow again.

"Solid Script: Thunder!"

'THUNDER' appeared over Arsenic's head, striking down with a massive bolt of lightning. Arsenic smoothly glided away from the bolt, gawking at the scorch mark that was left behind on the pavement. He jeered at this and held his hands out, as though he was holding something invisible and aiming it at Levy.

"Corrosion Cannon!"

Green acid conjured into existence and reformed as a large-looking bazooka, Arsenic snickering as he wasted no time in firing at the fleeing Solid Script Mage. After she nearly lost a leg after the first shot, Lily hastily dove in to scoop her back into the air, serving as a moving target to keep all of Arsenic's attention on them.

"I'm offended that you were gunning more for Juvia than me- am I not good enough?!" Levy taunted, ducking under the latest shot of acid.

"Doesn't matter," Arsenic growled, his body jerking backward as a Magic Circle formed at the mouth of the cannon, indicating a large shot. "I just might poison that pretty little mouth of yours to shut you up, then I'll haul you off anyway!"

As the Acid Mage told them to keep still as he continued to get a proper angle to shoot his lethal strike, he was left susceptible to the Iron Shadow Dragon emerging from the nightly shadows behind him. It was only when he had a bad feeling crawling through the veins did he turn to see the flat yet steely blue gaze Gajeel wore as shadows wisped from every iron pore in his being. Two rows of jagged teeth greeted Arsenic before a hard fist to the stomach joined it.

"Iron Shadow Dragon's Club!"

Gajeel's other arm turned into a metal rod before swinging it around and connecting with Arsenic's spine, sending the man flying like he was a gold ball. A pained cry ripped from the Acid Mage as he tumbled toward the ground and struggled to get back up, grabbing at the injury and flashing a look of unfiltered distain at the dragon slayer.

"Gaaah…! That hasn't healed from yesterday!"

"Oh, is that a weak spot?" Gajeel smirked, turning both of his arms into metal clubs. "Well, in that case-!"

"Solid Script: Anvil!"

The word 'ANVIL' appeared over where Arsenic was sprawled on the ground, landing straight on aforementioned weak spot and earning another loud scream. Levy and Lily returned from above with smug looks, although they weren't haughty for long when Arsenic cast Acid Rain over himself and melted the anvil just enough for him to kick it off. With a yowl of agony he jumped back to his feet, spreading out his legs and raising one arm to the sky.

"Multi-Angle Acid!"

Levy and Gajeel went back to back as they suddenly found themselves surrounded by more orbs of acid, but this time they were coming in from all directions, meaning that Lily couldn't simply fly them up and out of the way. As Levy panicked for a moment and was at a loss for what to do, she was instinctively tackled by Gajeel, and before she knew it she was enveloped into the shadows, just in time for the acid to crash down and not hit anyone at all.

"What?!" shouted Arsenic, hands glowing purple. "How do they keep evading my moves?!"

"Because we ain't idiots!" Gajeel called as he jumped out of the shadows with Levy tucked in his arms. He then tilted his head back and tossed Levy upwards without a second thought. "Yo, Lil'!"

"On it!" Lily called back, zooming straight over Arsenic's head to catch Levy. Gajeel smirked at the sight, only to recoil in pain when Arsenic appeared at his side, driving two acidic hands into his iron abdomen. Gajeel gritted his teeth to keep the scream he wanted to unleash inside; he could feel the magic eating away at him, and yet he knew it would be worse if he took away his iron scales.

"Not so arrogant now, are ya?!" Arsenic taunted, bringing one glowing fist around to sock Gajeel painfully in the jaw with unexpected speed. "I'll disintegrate that once pompous smile right off your face!"

Gajeel grabbed Arsenic by the collar and finally managed to throw him away, stumbling around in agony afterwards. Arsenic floundered to regain his own balance, but was faster on the draw, pointing his fingers forward and shooting off more Acid Bullets.

"Now, Shrimp," Gajeel murmured hoarsely, standing still as the deadly projectiles came his way. A tiny smirk filled his face when Levy was once again dropped into the action, cartwheeling forward before twirling on the toe of her shoe and swiping her arm in front of her.

"Solid Script: Reflect!"

A shiny-looking 'REFLECT' arrived in front of her, every Acid Bullet clinking against it and instantly being redirected. Arsenic wasn't going to fall for the same trick twice; he threw his arms over his head and cast Toxic Waste. The bullets were momentarily absorbed into the wall of goo, then were spat back out at twice the speed. There was no way Levy could conjure a spell quick enough to retaliate, and Gajeel knew that.

Hence why he grabbed her and spun them around so he could take the shot in her place.

"Gajeel!" Levy screeched, half-concerned and half-scolding. "Stop taking hits for me!"

"Sorry, did _you_ want to be run through by bullets made of acid?!"

"No, but they probably hurt you more than me!"

"Nah," Gajeel scoffed, whirling around to throw iron knives drizzled in darkness at Arsenic. Arsenic dodged away from them, but that left him open for a whackin the head by Lily's sword. "Seeing ya get hurt when you don't deserve to would be far worse to bear."

Levy's breath hitched her throat just as Gajeel sprung forward to catch Lily, who had been swatted away by Arsenic in a fit of angry rage. His already unruly clothes and matted hair looked much more disheveled now that he'd been thoroughly roughed up, and the acid wall he surrounded himself with certainly didn't make him look any more pleasant.

"Aw, how touching. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I would've never guessed that Black Steel Gajeel really did have a heart inside of him…" he chuckled darkly, walking forward with the fortress of acid following him. "You used to be a popular topic in Black Thorn a few years back…and then you went soft."

"He didn't go soft!" Levy insisted with tiny clenched fists. "He's just trying to make up for his mistakes, which is something you could learn from him, you…you insect!"

Gajeel held in a snicker at Levy's idea of trash talk, but it faded quickly when Arsenic rolled his eyes and send a wave of acid over at them with little warning.

"Oh please- anyone can tell just by looking at this guy that he would never go on a date of all things under his own accord!" he barked, relishing the way he'd smacked both Levy and Gajeel off their feet with his strike. Levy was clutching at her arm while Gajeel reeled from yet another critical impact. "He'd _never_ take the time to enjoy something as mundane as a dinner date!"

Levy's eyes fell sadly on the ground as she curled into a defensive ball; of course, this didn't go unnoticed by the ever attentive Gajeel, who shot his arm forward and turned it into the Iron Shadow Dragon's Sword. The jagged ends of the blade prevented Arsenic from simply grabbing it, allowing the dragon slayer to drive Arsenic into the ground. Gajeel reeled back the moment Arsenic tried to counter, cuing him to slip into the shadows and get around behind him when Arsenic stood back up.

"Ya know, yer right. Sitting around, chatting mindlessly, putting on a stupid stuffy suit…none of that is my cup of tea. I just ain't that kind of guy."

Arsenic whirled around with a glowing purple kick; Gajeel caught his ankle and lifted him until he was hanging upside down. He leered over the guy with a sinister smirk, seeing that this scumbag was rightfully frightened to the core.

"But getting to beat the snot out of a punk like you? Now _that _sounds like my kind of date."

Next thing anyone knew, Lily was ducking out of the sky as Arsenic was thrown through the air, and he would've made a devastating impact if he hadn't softened the blow by eroding the wall before he slammed into it. Levy watched the display with wide eyes until she saw Gajeel strolling over to her, wearing a commendably large grin.

"So, I'm having fun anyway."

Levy beamed at this, suddenly feeling reinvigorated as she turned to face Arsenic rising out of the latest pile of rubble- he was on the ropes! A plan crafting in her mind, Levy hastily held both of her hands out, casting two words at once.

"Solid Script: Iron! Solid Script: Shadow!"

The o's in both of the words had a little heart in the center, which Lily noticed with pure amusement as she sent the elements over to Gajeel, who definitely needed to recharge. As he gave her a nod of gratitude and chomped down on the snacks, she called Lily for backup and returned to Arsenic to finish this once and for all. His eyes were twitching in pure aggravation, a purple Magic Circle forming at his feet.

"You're really getting on my nerves…"

"Guess you should've spent more of your time coming at me than wasting energy on Juvia," Levy taunted back, crossing her arms out in front of her. "I'm not exactly a pushover, as much as you'd like to believe otherwise."

"Those are some big words for such a little woman."

"You want big words?" Levy asked, hands blazing yellow. "I'll give you big words!"

Lily yelped when he carried Levy out of the way of an another round of Sludge Bombs; Levy pouted before spreading her arms as wide as they would go, no longer holding anything back.

"Solid Script: Gigantic!"

Arsenic has readied another Corrosion Cannon, but there was nothing he could do about it when a huge red word wrote itself into existence and divided him from Levy. It landed with a heavy thud, and Levy panted from the amount of magic it took out of her. But still, she lifted her hands again and had Lily carry her over to scrambling Arsenic, who didn't seem to know which direction to go now that there was only one way out.

"All right…he's cornered…this should do it…" Levy huffed, crossing her hands a final time. "Solid Script: Immobilize!"

Arsenic heard Levy cast her spell from above, instantly turning his cannon in the direction of the sound. Yet before he could pull the trigger the word 'IMMOBILIZE' has crashed own onto him, vanishing the second it made contact with the Acid Mage and left him stuck in place. It wouldn't last forever, but juuust enough time aaaand-

Levy cuffed her hands around her mouth and hollered as hard as she could.

"Now, Gajeel!"

Arsenic's eyes rolled up to find Gajeel running straight at him, circling around Levy's barricade and charging like an angry bull. When he felt he was close enough, he revved his head back as iron and shadow festered at the corners of his mouth- definitely thanks to Levy's boost from earlier.

"Iron Shadow Dragon's…!" Gajeel leaned back to charge as much power as possible, smirking wickedly right before letting loose. "ROAAAAAAR!"

The shadowy iron breath attack pierced through the air and was something not even Arsenic could guard against, although he tried his best to grind his heels into the pavement to hold his ground. But eventually, he gave in to the force and wailed as he was toppled away, the shards of iron in the attack shredding at his clothes and tearing to his skin. Even after the roar wore off, Arsenic continued to somersault backwards several times until he was lying sprawled on the ground with a dazed look.

Moments later, he was greeted to the delightful sight of Gajeel rising up out of his shadow, sporting soulless eyes and a leering stare. He swiped his arm down to catch Arsenic by the collar and haul him up, bringing him closer until that deadly gaze was penetrating into Arsenic's soul.

Gajeel didn't even say anything; sick and tired of this slimy guy, he smashed his far sturdier forehead into the Acid Mage's and promptly knocked him out, dropping his unconscious body to the ground like it was a bag of trash. Levy sashayed up to him moments later with her hands on her hips.

"You could've handled him a little less roughly."

"Tch, not like he deserved the nice treatment," Gajeel grunted as his Iron Shadow mode faded away, only for a wave of exhaustion to overtake him and make him take a knee. "Jeez, so much for not getting sweaty tonight…"

Levy couldn't resist a giggle as she cast 'RELAX' with the last bit of her magic, letting the refreshing sensation pour over Gajeel who sighed in relief. Once she saw that he was in a little less discomfort, Levy plopped herself next to him with Lily sitting in her lap. Levy wiped the sweat off her brow as she shook her head.

"Wow…I haven't had to fight that hard in some time," she admitted, tone turning a little shy. "It was actually kind of exhilarating."

"Hey, those _were _some pretty crafty moves, Shrimp." Gajeel faced Levy with a wicked sneer. "Maybe you and I can spar sometime."

"Oh yeah right!" Levy balked, waving her arms. "All you have to do is bop me on the head and I'll be out cold! As if I could even scratch your iron with me using words like a weapon…"

"Nah, I doubt I'd even be able to hit you, what with ya being such a _small target_ and all-"

Gajeel cackled insanely as Levy fumed and hit him with pitifully light slaps that he barely even felt. Lily just shook his head at their antics as Gray and Juvia staggered over, looking a little better now that they had their time to rest.

"You guys won too! Of course, I knew nothing could stop Gajeel-kun!" cheered Juvia, draping herself over the kneeling Gajeel. Levy wished she was in Juvia's place for a fleeting second when Gray politely held out his hand to assist her back up. She smiled lightly and accepted his assistance, only to have her eyes widen in surprise when Gajeel suddenly sprang up and swatted Gray away.

"Oi, get yet hands off my date! Don't you have your _own_ to look out for?!"

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice- what're you tearing into me for?!"

"Gee, why don't you ask the shirt that you managed to tear off your back?"

"Wah-?" Gray stammered, unable to remember when he'd lost his clothes. "Crap! None of you tell Erza- she's going to KILL me!"

"Awww, Gajeel-kun is getting all protective over Levy~!" Juvia gushed, clasping her hands together. Levy, to take attention away from her reddening face, merely pointed at Gray.

"Yeah, but Gray's the one that made the move…"

"Levy, don't hang me out to dry like that-!"

"GRAY-SAMA, offering his hand in marriage to another woman while he's on a date with ME?!"

"IT WAS _JUST_ MY HAND THERE WAS NO MARRIAGE INVOLVED…!"

Gray then grabbed _Juvia's_ hand before she made any other sudden moves.

"Besides, I already told you, you're the only girl on my mind tonight! I went on this date with you, didn't I?!"

Juvia gasped and quickly covered her mouth. "Gray-sama_ concedes_ that this is an official date?!"

"Despite the fact it got crashed by a dark guild?" Gray shrugged. "…I don't see why not. Can't say I didn't have a good time."

Levy had to steady Juvia as she nearly fell over backwards from the weight of the implications, rambling off into happily thoughts about "what this could possibly mean". Gray rolled her eyes and turned away to hide the fact that his cheeks were pink, and Gajeel took great amusement in the way Levy was trying to drown her own blush behind Juvia's hair. Overall things had turned out okay- the night had been saved, Black Thorn couldn't get their hands on Juvia and Levy anymore, and the restaurant was still intact!

…at least it was, until a few moments later when every window in the restaurant promptly shattered without any warning at all, followed by a scream.

Gray, Juvia, Pantherlily, Gajeel, and Levy all froze in place as soon as the alarming sound reached their ears.


	17. What Are The Things I Wouldn't Do?

***too excited for words***

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 16: What Are The Things I Wouldn't Do For You?~

"You're not going to like me much when I'm through with you."

"Then let's see what you've got."

True to his word, Potence refused to go easy on Lucy; already the Celestial Wizard found herself leaping from table to table in a desperate attempt to stay out of range of his darts, her breath hitching when he'd managed to tear her dress in several places, but appreciatively didn't pierce any skin- thank her lucky stars.

Lucy quickly ducked behind one of the decorative walls for cover, using this chance to summon the first of her spirits.

"Open, Gate of the Twins: Gemini!"

In a burst of light and a puff of smoke came the two small blue floating twins, latching hands as they twirled around in the air.

"What can we do for you, Lucy?!" they asked eagerly, with Lucy putting a finger to her lips to keep them quiet.

"I'm fighting against a highly trained assassin right now, and I don't even know what magic he uses! I'm not going to throw myself at him until I understand the extent of what he can do; _then_ I'll make a plan from there," Lucy explained quickly in a hushed tone. "Can you two transform into him for me?"

"Well, obviously we can try," Gemi hummed, rubbing the back of his head.

"But if he's got a higher level of Magic Power than you do, we can't pull off a full copy!" exclaimed Mini while waving her arms.

"There's only one way to find out though."

The Twins gave her a knowing nod before all three of them jumped from their hiding place, right as Potence was about to strike down on them from above. He overshot his pounce and staggered a bit, but managed to leap out of the way when Gemini tried to dive-bomb him. They went to swoop in again, but Potence blocked them with his strange green projection shield.

"Hang on guys; I'll get him still for you!" Lucy announced, cracking her whip, snapping it forward, and wrapping it around a nearby table. With a fierce smirk, she whisked it across the floor at a breakneck pace, Potence too distracted by Gemini to properly evade and ended up pinned to the wall. Lucy pumped her fist in victory as the Twins hovered eagerly around their target.

"Tag- you're it!" Gemini shrieked as they both tapped Potence's shoulders, twirling away and landing not too far off as a perfect copy of the Black Thorn Assassin. Potence gained a look of surprise, especially when Gemini stood perfectly straight with their eyes going pure black.

"Potence Grande- strongest member of the dark guild Black Thorn, yet has no magical prowess whatsoever."

Lucy's eyes grew wide. "He's not a wizard-?!"

She and Gemini quickly darted out of the way when Potence loaded up his Dart Sniper again, firing at the spot where they both once stood. When Gemini was safely out of harm's way, they continued to recite what information they knew.

"Proficient in several different types of weapons. Weapons on hand include: Dart Sniper, filled with anti-Ethernano to disable mage opponents or potent poison with lethal doses. Shank Knives, designed to disarm opponent at close range. Bombs: they release a powder upon detonation that momentarily leaves targets incapacitated. Extending Flail: regular flail weapon with the capability to fling around like a whip. Primary Interest: Anti-Ethernano Projection Shield."

"What about the shield?!" Lucy exclaimed, a little startled that her magic-infused whip wasn't leaving a scratch on it, and Potence's smug look from behind it began to grate on her nerves. Gemini blinked, their eyes changing to match Potence's before turning to Lucy.

"Any magic attacks that come into contact with that shield will be nullified!"

Lucy grimaced in understanding and ran through her options. Gemini's transformation wouldn't last much longer, and most of her spirits relied on magic-based attacks. That automatically crossed out Loke, Virgo, and Aquarius, and they were her strongest ones! She couldn't waste power summoning them…and Scorpio and Aries were out of the question as well...

"Is there anything else you need before we go, Lucy?" Gemini asked, still copying Potence.

"While you're like that, keep Potence at bay! I think I may have an idea…"

"Okie dokie!" the Twins chimed, throwing out their own shield when Potence came running at them with his flail. The spiked end jetted out of the handle and whacked against Gemini's defense, with Gemini giggling and returning fire with their own Dart Sniper. While they were busy with that, Lucy pulled out her next key and twirled it between her fingers.

"Open, Gate of the Golden Bull: Taurus!"

"Mooooove on over! Far be it from me to let a scratch ruin Miss Lucy's rockin' bod!" announced the bull upon arrival, with Lucy putting a hand to her forehead. "And I must say, you are lookin' mighty fine in that evening gown! Sooooo many curves!"

Lucy's eye twitched. "I didn't summon you to ogle me; I need you to use your axe to break through that guy's shield! If you can do than then I can easily finish him off with a magic attack!"

She directed Taurus over to Potence just as Gemini snapped out of their transformation, teetering about in the air looking disoriented. Now that Gemini was no longer proving a threat, Potence faced Lucy and Taurus with an arrogant laugh.

"Ha! You can only break my shield if I have it out!" taunted Potence, putting it away. "And like I'm going to use it to defend a purely physical attack!"

"Then I hope you're ready to be utterly cut down!" Taurus yelled back, wasting no time in rushing forward with his trusty axe at the ready. Lucy whipped back to Gemini and held out their key, giving them a firm nod.

"Thanks for your help you two; that insight was just what I needed!"

"That's our job, Lucy!" they chirped, waving goodbye as Lucy closed their gate. Feeling somewhat confident now that she had an edge on her opponent, she turned back to find Taurus taking many swings at Potence, yet just barely missing each and every time…which Lucy found very unsettling, considering that Taurus' normally had excellent precision.

"Taurus, what's wrong?!" Lucy called, quickly leaping back into the forefront of the action. She was halted by the flat part of Taurus' axe, as it turned out that Potence had set up another round of smoke bombs. The bull didn't even need to say anything; Lucy looked up to find that his eyes were heavily watering from being too close to the powder.

"Can't hit what you can't see!" Potence's voice jeered, with Lucy and Taurus going back to back to stay on guard. Lucy suspected Potence would try the ceiling trick again, but she was proven wrong when he suddenly lunged out of the smoke and at _her_, small silver knife in hand. Her skin crawled as she was certain that he'd stab her, but instead found herself twirled into him, her back resting flush against him with the shank still resting tauntingly between his fingers.

"I told you I would entertain you for a bit," he hummed seductively in her ear, which made horrified shudders creep through Lucy. She saw Taurus struggling to tell which way was up with his sight impediment, and hesitantly bit her lip. "Obviously this spirit of yours has quite the attachment to you…"

"Even with a blurry eyesight, Miss Lucy's beauty is crystal clear!"

"Uh no, he's just a big pervert," Lucy sweat dropped, quickly shaking it off and remaining firm on her stance. "But he's undyingly loyal, and that's what makes him one of my best!"

Next thing Potence knew, he was whacked in the side by the blunt part of Taurus' axe, the bull huffing angrily out of his nose afterwards.

"No one touches the lady's body without permission, mooooo!" he shouted, rubbing heavily at his eyes. "Even I can't even get a smooooch!"

"Nice one, Taurus!" Lucy exclaimed with a fist pump. "This guy may be cunning, but you outclass him in brute strength!"

Potence groaned as he got back up, quickly sliding his flail out of his sleeve and whipping it forward. The handle was made of steel, and it had a spiked end just like any other flail, but Lucy noticed that it had a small button on it- one that caused the spiked ball to be whisked around on a chain…

Basically, a far more dangerous whip.

"Hah!" Lucy cried, springing in front of Taurus to get the flail to back off with her own whip. "Whatever you do, don't let that end touch you!"

"Who said anything about hitting him with it?" Potence teased, bringing his arm back and tugging Lucy forward along with it. "You sorely underestimate me, _Miss_."

Lucy gritted her teeth at being called "Miss" with such a venomous tone, steadying herself on her heels as she fought back once again. Potence made sure to stay out of her whip's range, simpering when he saw Taurus coming back at him with the axe raised high. He quickly evaded the latest attack, shooting out his flail to catch the leg of a table. After making sure it was steady, he mockingly made a kissy face at Lucy –which caught Lucy disgustedly off guard- and enraged Taurus just enough to make him rush forward one more time. Potence stayed in place until the last possible moment, then veered out of Taurus' way, stretched the chain of flail, and caused the bull to catch on it and trip over his own two feet.

"MOOOO!"

Lucy winced as Taurus landed on his face with a hard smack, his axe clattering out of his hands and sliding out of his reach. Lucy instantly darted over to retrieve it, but she was harshly pushed out of the way by Potence, grinning deviously as he hurled a smoke bomb her way while beating her to the punch.

"Ack! Taur- cough- TAURUS!"

Enraged, she vaulted into the air and stuck her leg out; she sailed through the purple mist and successfully managed to kick Potence over, but it was a bittersweet victory. The assassin had used Taurus' axe against him to send the Golden Bull straight back to the spirit world.

"Forgive me, Miss Luuuuuucy…"

"Oh, Taurus…"Lucy whimpered, clutching his key to her chest as he faded into light particles.

"Tch, you've got more of a bite than that ox did," grumbled Potence, rubbing at his head that was now probably dented with a stiletto mark. "You wanna try something else, or are you ready to let me go grab your loser boyfriend and allow me to be about my business?"

"He's not a loser and he's not my boyfriend!" screeched Lucy, removing two more keys off her ring and holding them out to her sides. "There's no way I'm giving up here either! I'm just getting all fired up!"

Potence threw another bomb; Lucy jumped to dodge and alighted dramatically on a table, holding her keys ready for another round with this guy.

"Open, Gate of the Archer: Sagittarius! Open, Gate of the Sea Goat: Capricorn!"

Soon enough, a man in a horse costume and a goat in a suit appeared on the scene; Sagittarius gave a formal salute to nothing in particular while Capricorn lowered into a bow from where he was.

"Howdy-do!" "How may I be of assistance?"

Lucy merely gestured at Potence, who appeared to be studying his new opponents.

"That guy is after Natsu, and we need to take him out pronto!"

"Right away, Lady Lucy!" they both chimed, Sagittarius knocking his bow with several arrows while Capricorn sprinted toward Potence with blistering speed. A glint seemed to pass through the assassin's eyes as he climbed onto a table just like Lucy, barely avoiding Capricorn as the goat chopped right through one of the decorative metal chairs. Potence then bent over backwards as Sagittarius' arrows soared over his head, and he couldn't resist shooting a smile over at Lucy.

"Impressive! Using both close-combat and ranged specialists to keep all your bases covered- a smart tactic indeed!"

He tumbled away when Lucy swatted her whip at him, and now he found himself fending off her, the goat-man proficient in fisticuffs, and a horse firing projectiles at him. Even he, for as versatile as he was, couldn't stave off such a determined trio all at once, and while he was busy evading Lucy's whip, Capricorn moved in for a definitive strike. The goat swung his leg up and punted Potence into the wall, just in time for Sagittarius' latest arrows to keep him pinned there by his arms. Lucy smirked at the way Potence was left helplessly hanging there, taking this opportunity to sashay up to him with her whip stretched out of front of her. Potence merely raised an eyebrow at her- she was clearly taking far too much joy in this.

"I fear that was almost regretfully too easy, Lady Lucy," Capricorn murmured, fists raised to fight again if needed. "Remember to keep your wits about you."

"I, too, must concede that hardly took any effort at all!" exclaimed Sagittarius, saluting off in a random direction again.

"Relax you two- it just turns out that my plan worked!" Lucy exclaimed, smirking up at Potence although his half-smile was creeping her out. "I've got him right where I want him!"

"Oh you do?" Potence asked, a hint of teasing in his tone. "I didn't realize you were into _that_ sort of thing, what with the way you're holding that whip-"

"Eeeeeh?!" Lucy stammered, flushing red as she stared at her weapon. She hastily put it behind her back. "What the-?! I'm NOT! I was just trying to be intimidating!"

"Who tells their opponent that they're TRYING to be intimidating?"

"AAARGH-!"

Her annoyed scream was cut off when Potence hastily pulled his arms out of his jacket sleeves and allowed himself to slip back to the ground, throwing knives in Lucy's direction. She flinched until Capricorn darted in front of her, using the back of his hands to skillfully deflect the projectiles. The goat blinked when Potence ran in front of Sagittarius, keeping the archer's focus on him. Sagittarius' knocked arrows remained strained on Potence, even as the assassin kept Lucy preoccupied for the moment by shoving a table and a few chairs over to her.

As Lucy battled with a chair, Capricorn rushed in to get up close and personal with Potence for some comeuppance…but that was precisely what Potence wanted.

"Get him, Sagittarius! Before he hurts Capricorn!" Lucy called depserately.

"On it, my lady!"

Sagittarius took the time to aim, then let his quintet of arrows fly in a deadly arc. Capricorn and Potence were current latched at their forearms, each trying to push the other away.

Yet Potence gladly let himself fall to the ground…allowing Capricorn to take the brunt of the arrows in his stead.

"Ca…Capricorn?!" Lucy squeaked out, with Capricorn somehow finding the strength to bow at Lucy despite his state of weakness.

"My condolences, Lady Lucy…I have been…vanquished for the moment…"

Potence barked out a laugh as Capricorn faded back into the Celestial Spirit World, Sagittarius obviously ashamed at the accident.

"Oh no no _no_! I humbly apologize Lady Lucy; I have failed you! I…I…"

Sagittarius was stunned to the spot with what'd he'd just done, unable to hear Lucy's shrieks for him to move. She shouted exasperatedly while scrambling away from the furniture, sailing through the air too late as Potence's dagger stabbed into the archer's back, and Sagittarius being a ranged fighter would have had no way to defend anyway.

Lucy's eyes grew wide as she tackled Potence and sent them both to the ground; Sagittarius wasn't fatally wounded or anything, but a strike like that was more than enough to send him back to recover in the spirit world. His eyes were completely apologetic as he faded into golden dust, just in time for Potence to flip them so he was on top of Lucy.

"You put up a fight, I'll say," he chuckled haughtily, keeping her pinned by the neck with one arm while the other was raised, a knife perched at the top. Lucy struggled to get some air, and yet her gaze was locked on that glinting silver blade of death that was just inches from ending her. "Haha, that's the look you _should_ have had when we first got started! About time you learned your place."

A burning disgust festered in Lucy, and not wasting another moment, she drove her knee into Potence's gut, knocking the wind out of him and punting him off of her. As he staggered away, she whirled around and pulled off a very impressive roundhouse kick, knocking him into the same table she'd been shoved with. She finally paused to catch her breath, a hand placed gingerly against her bruised neck.

"…you're an underhanded bastard, I hope you know," she panted with lowered eyes, pulling yet another key off her ring. Potence coughed and glowered back with equal levels of distaste, although he never lost his sinister grin. "I'd been counting on Capricorn and Sagittarius to keep you down, but you insisted on playing dirty…"

"Not my fault that pony of yours didn't pin me all the way to the wall." Potence reached behind his neck and blanched slightly upon realizing he was bleeding. It must have been from that roundhouse kick... "…hmm. Your strategy was sound but the execution wasn't tight enough."

"Stop criticizing me- it's patronizing!"

"…yeah, don't know why I'm wasting my breath anyway." His once cool-headed gaze had narrowed, and Lucy could feel its intensity even as she kept her distance. "It's not like you'll get to fight again anyway."

Seeing as he was about to make another move, Lucy tried her hand at summoning another spirit…only to find that she couldn't. Her face filled with horror- sure, she'd just opened two gates at once, but she still should have had enough power for _one_ more summon.

"…oh, SHOOT!" she yelped, getting knocked down by a swift elbow to her sternum. Lucy gasped as she fell to the floor, rolling away from Potence's following strikes. "I forgot…I summoned Cancer earlier…!"

"Huh, guess I don't need to waste any anti-Ether darts on you…" Potence taunted, ignoring all the fallen silverware and plates Lucy was hurling at him in her defense.

"N-no…crap…" Lucy hissed, hesitant to stand as she kept a steady grip on her whip.

It was all she could rely on now; hopefully, it would be enough.

Meanwhile, currently crashing into every single solid thing in the restaurant was Happy, who in his drunken state couldn't even tell which way was up for fish's sake, and his overly erratic flying was made worse by a flailing Natsu who _commanded_ to be brought back into the fight.

"You know you can't," Happy managed to slur out. "That Potence guy had you all figured out- your magic, emotions, and fighting ability are all tied into –hic- one, so by taking away your magic, not only did you lose your fire, but you can't even fight physically!"

"I don't care!" screamed Natsu, still trying desperately to worm his way out of Happy's grip. "I gotta go back and help Lucy! I can't let her get hurt! She's against a _trained assassin_\- one slip up and she…she could-"

His emotions flared and once again went to set himself on fire, only to instead contort painfully. Happy frowned in sympathy –then crashed into a statue- before carrying Natsu back on course.

"…you can't fight anyway because you can't stay calm enough! If you didn't get so worked up, then maybe you'd be able to take that guy on…"

Natsu went quiet as he tried to think that idea over- obviously that was the only way he was going to be able to work around having all that anti-Ethernano in him, combined with the fact that his head was still screaming at him…but with Lucy in such a precarious situation there was absolutely no way he was going to be able to keep his grip long enough! He could barely stay still when the guy was hitting on her, let alone _literally_ hitting her!

"Hmm…"

"Oh no, you're thinking. This won't end well-"

"Shaddup! Those darts cut off my inner magic, right?" Natsu asked, with Happy hesitantly nodding. "…then all I have to do is_ refill_ on magic, no problem!"

"Well _maybe_, but what are you-?"

"TO THE KITCHEN!" Natsu blared, pointing off in some random direction. Happy nearly dropped him from the way the shout pounded against his ear drums.

"B-But I don't know where it is!"

"I SAID KITCHEN!"

"Waaaaah, aye sir," Happy pouted, dragging his worn-out body down the back corridors of the building. "I hate when you get like this…I swear, you'd call the army if Lucy so much as got a _paper cut_-"

"Oi! That's totally not true, man!"

The duo's derailing conversation continued until Happy finally located a room that was labeled with "KITCHEN" in big gold letters. Sighing in relief, he threw Natsu straight through the doors, the dragon slayer landing in an uncomfortable heap as Happy decided to crash down on a cozy-looking sack of sugar. Natsu moaned as he picked himself up, throwing a quick glare at the _now snoozing_ cat before searching around for the one thing he was looking for- the wood-burning oven.

"Bingooooo! Time for the second course!"

Natsu determinedly crawled his way across the floor, running on pure will power until he got close enough to the flames to inhale them. Once he reached his destination, he devoured the fire like a starving man and had them all burning in his belly within the blink of an eye. He found the strength to stand again –although for some reason the room was on an angle?- yet when he clenched his fist, he was only able to stir up a little spark.

"Ugh…guess that little bit of fire wasn't enough to fully get my power back," he grumbled, trying his best not to waste a drop of magic. "I've only got energy for about one spell…this sucks!"

Natsu then remembered Lucy was still fighting for her life out there and darted out the doors, sprinting around the corner just in time to see Potence's flail snapping at Lucy, nicking her exposed thigh and forcing her to step back against the wall for support. A glint of silver soared through the air,_ just_ missing Lucy's ear and making the blonde's pupils shrink in terror.

"By the look on your face, you seem to have been in this situation before…" Potence hummed, already twirling another shank around.

"Yeah…I have…" Lucy croaked out, narrowing her eyes as an unexpected grin crawled up her face. "…so if you think I'm going to be helpless twice you're wrong."

She swiftly ducked as another knife whizzed over her head, rolling to the right when he tossed another. Potence gained a bemused smirk.

"Hm, surely I can't be that predictable…"

"Tch, you're not nearly as great as you think you are," Lucy scoffed, staying low and spinning on the top of her foot, slinging her whip around to wrap around his legs. To her horror, he managed to jump and _land_ on the whip, causing Lucy to topple over and leaving her vulnerable on the ground.

And in that position, Natsu was able to clearly see the bruise across her neck.

"I'll confess, you were indeed entertaining, but even the best shows have to come to an end-"

Potence grimaced as he then heard Natsu's dress shoes running across the floor of the restaurant, looking up just in time to see the enraged dragon slayer barreling _right for him_ with flames licking his arms.

"If I only have one shot…" he seethed, fully igniting at this point. "…then I ain't gonna miss!"

"Natsu, you can't-!" Lucy feebly tried to clamber back up as soon as she saw him coming, but it was already too late: Natsu had launched himself off the floor and took to the air, soaring ahead like a dangerous flaming missile.

"FIRE DRAGON'S _SWORD HORN_! RAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Natsu's determined scream immediately filled the air- a cry so loud that combined with the power of his attack caused the windows of the entire building to shatter from the intensity. Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief as glass clattered dramatically to the floor; Potence, meanwhile, called on his shield, smirking fiercely the very second Natsu's head made direct contact with the Anti-Ethernano barrier. Lucy backed away carefully as Potence remained the immovable object against Natsu's unstoppable force…but _something_ had to give.

A sickening crack filled the air, and all of a sudden, Potence and Natsu went flying out of the main entrance.

Potence's eyes widened in panic as his shield did not break under the strength of Natsu's magic- rather, it broke under the force of the strike itself. The impact propelled him incredibly far from Natsu, while the dragon slayer lost his momentum and ended up crashing to the ground. With his last throes of energy, he looked up expecting Potence to stay down now…but to his terror, it seemed that the only thing that had been damaged was the shield.

Potence rose unscathed and tossed the broken shield projector off his wrist, crushing it beneath his foot and giving Natsu a filthy look.

Natsu only stared back with gaping eyes and dropped jaw.

"Wh-what?!" he stammered, stuck in complete disbelief. "That should…that should have stopped you-!"

"Obviously it _didn't_," Potence deadpanned, raising his Dart Sniper and immediately hitting Natsu with another two nullifiers. Natsu lurched back on the ground, again struggling to even move. The most he could do was return Potence's deep scowl, but at least he'd managed to get him away from Lucy…

Although he wasn't too sure about what was going to happen to _him_ now.

"Natsu's in trouble!" Levy exclaimed, trying to drag herself over but still too drained from the previous battle. Juvia wasn't in the best of shape either, and Gray and Gajeel were handicapped thanks to their various injuries…

"Aw, this is almost anti-climactic. If I'd known taking Salamander down would've been this easy I would have done it even before it was tasked of me," Potence sighed with a disinterested shrug. "I thought it would be much more fulfilling bringing someone with your accomplishments to their knees…"

"Man, you think I give a crap about whatever reputation I'm supposed to have?!" complained Natsu, moaning afterwards. "I just wanted to go on a date, dude!"

"A shame about that too." Potence clicked his tongue and hopped backward when Natsu attempted to throw himself forward. "Even the blind could see that she ain't your type-"

"Oi, so what?! That doesn't meant I couldn't try! Besides, _you hurt her_, and there _will _be hell to pay, I swear it!"

Potence tilted his head with a hand on his hip, almost staring down at Natsu with pity. Natsu snarled at the very thought.

"I don't know what you see in her anyway. She's pretty and _maybe_ a little smart, but otherwise she's weak and doesn't have much else going for her-"

"You shut your mouth _right…NOW!_"

Potence blinked when Natsu quite literally growled at him, too worked up to move but so wasn't about to keep his mouth shut. His fangs were ravenously bared and if Potence hadn't tranquilized him, the assassin was pretty sure he'd wouldn't be standing anymore.

"You don't know Lucy well enough to make that call about her! It doesn't matter if she's pretty, she's smarter than I could ever hope to be, and she's _not_ weak if she's strong in a way that few people are…! She has the strength in her to care about _everyone_ around her, even _scum_ that have wronged her _like you_, and why does she need to bother loving just one person when she has so much room in her heart for everyone?!"

Lucy came limping out of the restaurant at that very moment, calling out for Natsu but pausing when she heard those last words that tumbled out of his mouth.

"She doesn't even need me to help her win this battle, but there was no way I wasn't gonna get at least one good shot off of ya for doing this to me," Natsu chuckled, bangs drifting into his face. "I have full faith in her…but I _can't stand_ when she's hurt. She's my partner…my best friend…I can't help that I care about her as much as I do."

Lucy's hand flew to cover her mouth as her face flushed red; Natsu looked over his shoulder upon hearing her gasp, giving her a wink and a smile as he struggled to continue holding himself up.

"…and because of that, I _know_ she'll find a way to win."

"…hrm, well I suppose that's touching," remarked Potence aloofly, hardly moved at all by Natsu's little speech. He watched intensely as Lucy clicked up in her heels and quickly landed next to Natsu, who was barely stable on his knees at this point. Lucy lifted her head to throw a distasteful look in Potence's direction; he merely gave her a flirtatious wink back, enjoying stringing them along just a little longer.

Of course this aggravated Natsu to no end, leaving Lucy to calm him down once again and Potence to laugh at how futile they were.

"Lucy, _beat_ this bastard already…!" Natsu demanded, still leering disgustedly over at the assassin not much older than themselves. "He's getting on my nerves and I can't even get close enough to punch him out for hurting you like that!"

"There's not much I can do either, Natsu," Lucy grimaced quietly. "You managed to get rid of his shield too late; I'm too low on energy to summon any more spirits, and Loke and Virgo already spent their power passing through their gates earlier…

"Uwaaaaah! They just HAD to get us in matching outfits…"

As Natsu fumed over that, Lucy's eyes suddenly lit up as she grabbed at the hem of her dress. The clothes…made in the spirit world…OF COURSE!

"Natsu!" Lucy barked, rising up when Potence moved in for another attack. He whisked out his flail in an attempt to snag Natsu; Lucy latched onto it with her own whip and snatched it right out of his hands, tossing it somewhere behind her. Natsu naturally perked to attention, catching the grin that filled Lucy's face even as she struggled to stay balanced on her heels. "I'm going to need you to-"

"I _can't_ Lucy, as much as I really want to…" Natsu pounded a fist into the concrete as Lucy swatted away some oncoming bombs. "You can beat him on your own; you can win your fight, even without magic!"

Lucy's smile turned watery at Natsu's words as she gently shook her head; her whip alone wasn't going to be enough to keep this steadily approaching killer at bay forever.

"Thank you for believing in me Natsu…but this is your fight as well."

Any response Natsu prepared had vanished when Lucy delivered a hard lash across Potence's torso; he wasn't expecting the stinging strike and ended up falling back, giving the duo a little space for the time being. The smarting _whap_ of the whip making contact rang in Natsu's ears as he felt Lucy shift behind him, intertwining her fingers with his as she got them both to stand up straight again. It was a struggle keeping them both balanced, since Natsu was practically deadweight, but still he could feel her smiling into his back.

"I think…it would be better if we ended it together."

Before Natsu had a chance to even come up with a way to protest, his mouth fell open when he saw Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Levy, and Lily haphazardly throwing themselves onto Potence while he was dazed from Lucy's strike, knocking the assassin to the ground and leaving him unable to attack for the moment. The quintet all shouted at Natsu and Lucy to let loose already, but Natsu didn't know what he was supposed to do…! He was running dangerously low on magic!

"Natsu," he heard Lucy whisper in his ear, feeling her hands clutch his tighter. Subconsciously he returned the gesture. "Individually we don't have enough strength, but if we combine what we have left, we _can_ take out this guy!"

"…what do you mean?" he questioned suspiciously, still hardly able to keep his eyes open or his head straight. Lucy groaned slightly at having to explain, but as long as she had Natsu's consent, she was pretty confident that they could pull this off.

"You and I are going to perform a Magic Fusion."

Just as Natsu was about to ask how he was supposed to do that, he noticed that what remained of his and Lucy's clothes had started to glow. The star patterns they wore seemed to _radiate_ with power, and in the back of Natsu's head that made sense- they had come from the Celestial Spirit World, thus they would be filled with extra magic. Lucy seemed to have been aware of that, but…would that really be enough power to get the job done?

"Now, do it now!" the others cried as they tumbled off of the incapacitated Potence, not wanting to get caught in whatever impending blast was being brewed. Potence growled as he hastily bounced to his feet, not liking the way Lucy's dress and hair were flowing out, or how both of them appeared to be shining with an golden-orange aura.

"I _dare_ you to try and pull it off; take your time, just makes it easier for me!" Potence challenged, loading up two fatal purple darts into his sniper and immediately taking aim. "I don't care about my mission anymore…you two have gone and made this personal!"

Lucy's eyes were squeezed tight as she pumped every drop of magic she had left into Natsu, praying to the stars that this was going to work. She and Natsu were practically inseparable…they knew each other so well…if she could pull this off with Juvia when she had barely known the girl, then doing this with her best friend shouldn't be that difficult!

"C'mon, Natsu," Lucy pleaded, sensing Potence readying his next attack and knowing their time was growing increasingly short. "You don't have much left to give, so take my energy and make it your own! Please…do it for me!"

Natsu's groggy eyes feebly blinked twice before shooting all the way open, revealing that they were shining gold with Lucy's magic. Everything seemed to fall into slow motion as Potence fired off his round of lethal darts; Natsu threw his head back to take a deep breath, fully accepting Lucy's gift of energy. He let it flow through every fiber in his being, fusing it with what little he himself had.

"UNISON RAID!" Both of them managed to chant in sync, like their minds had become one in that single moment. "CELESTIAL FIRE!"

Then, like a mighty cannon, Natsu leaned forward and blasted a blinding stellar blaze out of his mouth.

The force sent both him and Lucy skidding backwards, the stream of flames growing bigger and stronger with every passing second. The rest of the group was left staring in awe at the sparkling golden fire that poured out of Natsu, but were far more entertained at the way Potence's pupils had shrunk just at the _existence_ of such an attack. His lethal darts had disintegrated the moment the fire licked them away, stripping him of any chance he had of stopping them.

Nothing he had on hand was going to defend against it, so almost in act of mercy, he put his hands up and just let the blast have its way with him.

Once the roar of the flames died down, the silence of the night settled back in, with a shaking Lucy gripping Natsu's trembling torso as the two of them scanned the damage of their combined attack. As the star dust and smoke eventually cleared out, all that remained was Potence in a charred white suit, still conscious, but far too stunned to even articulate his thoughts. He stared straight up at the night sky as though he was thinking over his circumstances, but it appeared that for the moment he was done putting up a fight.

"Hah…hah…that…was AWESOME!"

Immediately the attention turned from Potence to Natsu and Lucy; while Natsu looked worse for wear despite his enthusiasm, both of them had exhausted all their energy pulling off such an extreme move, and it was no surprise that they were about to keel over. Juvia instantly glided her way over to catch Natsu before he collapsed; Gray skated over and did the same with Lucy, holding her close knowing that she'd given her all against such a well-prepared opponent.

"Lu-chan!" Levy yelped as she and Gajeel hurried over, the small girl dropping to her knees to place a hand on Lucy's arm. Gajeel, meanwhile, raised an eyebrow over at Juvia.

"Is Salamander still kicking, Rain Woman?"

Juvia started to turn Natsu around to double-check, but Lucy suddenly burst out of Gray's arms and tugged Natsu out of Juvia's hold, pulling the dragon slayer close and letting him rest in her embrace. He looked like he could really use a nap, but still he cracked an eye open to see who was holding him and smiled broadly upon discovering it was Lucy.

"Knew you could find a way to pull it off…" he trailed, releasing an adorable yawn afterwards. "Proud of you, Luce…"

Lucy's cheeks warmed at such a bold and complimenting statement, but she couldn't share in his pride. Instead, she lowered her eyes and found herself glancing away.

"…you shouldn't be," she finally returned glumly, with Natsu raising a curious eyebrow. "I did exactly what Levy told me I shouldn't do…I-I sold you short, Natsu. I'm so sorry…"

Levy bit her curled lip as Lucy started lightly sobbing, leaving Gray, Juvia, and even Gajeel with sympathetic looks. Natsu simply asked her what she meant, which pulled more regretful weeps out of her.

"You went through so much for me tonight…and I didn't even take it fully seriously…" Lucy visibly started shaking. "I didn't even consider how serious you were until I had to have it spelled out for me…what kind of a friend am I?!"

"One who's not sure if this was what she entirely wanted in the first place," Natsu mumbled almost inaudibly, the ends of his lips pulling up ruefully. "I know how uncomfortable you are when it comes to dates and stuff; I should've been clearer about my intentions…"

"Knowing Salamander he probably spouted the first thing that came to mind without planning ahead," grunted Gajeel, earning a scorning slap from Levy and furious look from Natsu. Lucy only frowned.

"No, you were pretty clear…you wanted to go on a date with me, and then _my_ stupid reaction screwed everything up."

"You beat yourself up too much, ya weirdo- I ain't even mad," Natsu shrugged, scratching at his cheek. "Now, am I mad that my cat got drunk, our dessert course was ruined by that dark guild, and I got shot who knows how many times?! …eh, maybe a little."

Gray rolled his eyes while Juvia hid a giggle behind her hand. Lucy, somewhat touched by Natsu's usual lighthearted approach to things, dried up her sniffles and attempted a smile, which Natsu could sense wasn't entirely genuine. She jumped when he gently grabbed her arm, pleasantly surprised to find that his touch was warm again.

"Look Luce, if you really feel that bad about it, theeeeen…the night's not over you know…" Natsu reminded her, giving her a softer smile. "There's still time to possibly make it up to me, if you'd like."

The others looked somewhat excited at the thought of getting to finish their date; thrilled squeals poured out of Juvia and Levy while Gray and Gajeel grinned and shrugged aloofly at each other. Surrounded by all this enthusiasm, Lucy couldn't help but spiritedly laugh, glancing down at Natsu's slightly hopeful look.

"Okay," she nodded wholeheartedly, happy tears now replacing the sad ones. "…it's a date."


	18. Truth, Consequences, and Stolen Dances

**Wow, the response for last time was awesome! PLUS we're almost to 200 reviews, which is something I thought I'd never reach again! You guys are the absolute _best!_**

**So yup, things are winding down now...wiiiith only a few chapters left! *gasp***

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 17: Truth, Consequences, and Stolen Dances~

"And here you thought you were done with me."

Apparently a moment's peace eluded the group once again. The placid mood evaporated with those nine words alone, and the group of six –plus Pantherlily- were torn out of their reverie in the middle of the street by the man in the white suit, holding himself up on a knee while giving all of them the most offending expression he could muster. Despite the rugged look and battle scars he now wore, Potence still posed a threat…and with the disheveled heap the wizards were left in, he still had the upper hand.

"You might've come out on top against us, but we're just three drops in the vast ocean that is Black Thorn…" he chuckled cryptically, completely standing up now. "Our guild still remains, and it doesn't matter how many of us you take out; there will always be others to take revenge-!"

"Ugh you can spout your weird poetry or whatever, just don't hit me with a dart again," Natsu bemoaned as he leaned on Lucy. "Shoot it at Gray next time. He needs to be taken down a notch."

"Oi, WHY ME?!"

"I personally nominate Bunny Girl," declared Gajeel. "She put up the best fight without magic, sooo-"

"Nuh uh, no way Metal Head! I don't want to lose my connection with my spirits!"

"Juvia would gladly take the shot for Gray-sama!"

"Um, wouldn't it just pass through your body…? It's not a _magic_ dart, so it shouldn't affect you-"

"And there goes Shrimp, being a know-it-all-"

"I AM NOT!"

Potence grunted upon realizing that he wasn't being taken seriously anymore, let alone being paid attention to, so he discretely loaded his Dart Sniper behind his back, more than ready to take advantage of the confusion.

…and he would have, if it wasn't for the ground beginning to shake and knocking him right off his feet.

The six quit bickering at each other when Lily suddenly sprung into the air, releasing a high-pitched cry as he pulled at his ears.

"Um, do any of you feel t-that rumbling?!" he called out as he glowered at the sky. "Oh please tell me that ain't thunder…!"

"No, it's definitely the ground," Gray deduced, placing his hand on the pavement. Sure enough, there was a rather disconcerting tremor rocking the ground…

"It can't possibly be an earthquake, can it?" asked Lucy, but no one seemed to really have a clear explanation for the phenomenon, other than the fact that the tremors were growing by the second and were apparently enough to stir Arsenic and Mercury out of their blackouts.

"Uuuugh, I feel like I was hit by a damn hurricane," whined Mercury, moaning as she slumped on her knees.

"Hurricane?! I feel like ten tonnes of metal fell on me." Arsenic hissed when he discovered a huge bruise Bu on his forehead.

But alas, a large shift in the land of Fiore was not the cause of the tremors.

It was the pissed off Erza "Titania" Scarlet marching out of the front doors to the Sea of Dreams, donning her Purgatory Armor and wearing quite possibly the most ornery expression ever known to humankind.

Natsu, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Levy, Lily, and even Gajeel turned completely white at the sight of her boiling in fury, huddling closer to each other with each of her thunderous steps until they were all piled onto one another and screaming their lungs out. However, they weren't the ones that needed to be scared- it was the trio of dark guild members that should have been trembling just as the sight of her.

Which, of course, they were.

"So…you're the members of Black Thorn," she remarked acidly, letting the tension grow as she approached them with blistering red eyes. "I don't appreciate the underhanded things you've done, and I definitely don't take kindly to your harsh treatment of my friends and myself…by now you should know you picked the wrong guild to mess with."

"Those are some big words you got on ya," Potence sneered as Erza stepped in front of him. "And I think-"

He never got to finish his thought- Erza punted him straight into Mercury, followed by grabbing Arsenic by the collar and hurling him over so they were in one spot. Needless to say, they didn't have a shred of a chance against her; especially not in their current state…

"I have no more breath to waste on the likes of you, as it seems my friends have thoroughly taught you a lesson already. But I will happily mention…" Erza's head snapped over to Mercury, who near melted from the sheer intensity. "…there was_ indeed_ a basement."

Everyone that wasn't Erza promptly yelled at the top of their lungs when she brought down her massive spiked mace and didn't waste another moment knocking the trio out cold. The rumors about her Purgatory Armor were that none who saw it ever lived to tell the tale, but it appeared that even Titania could spare mercy onto those undeserving of it.

But there was also a huge crater where she'd brought her weapon down unto the trio, and the rest of the group was stuck staring at the gaping hole in the street and her fearsome form.

"…what's wrong with all of you?" Erza scoffed, reequipping back into her default outfit.

"Um, nothing's wrong, not at all," Lucy managed to squeak out, the six wizards suddenly having the energy to stand again but unable to make eye contact with Titania. Erza continued to watch them all with a skeptical look before her facial features softened into a light-hearted smile, and that seemed to relax the group a little.

"In any case, you should be happy those hooligans are finally out of your hair. I'll be keeping an eye on them until the Magic Council shows up to take them in, and seeing as they won't have any contact with their guild, no one else should be coming after you," Erza also added, lightly humming. "After two strikes against us in such rapid succession, there's too many eyes on them now. At least for a little while, they'll be laying low, and I doubt they'd be dumb enough to try anything again now that the Council has a lead on them. You're all safe now."

Upon hearing those words, everyone decomposed with respite before breaking out into ecstatic cheers; Gajeel lifted Levy onto one of his muscular arms as she threw hers to the sky in celebration, Gray slung an arm around Juvia and pulled her in close as she turned pink, and Natsu found it in him to pick Lucy up by the waist and twirl her around, with Lucy's melodic laughter filling the night air.

"That certainly is a relief," Lily concluded with a nod, just as everyone started to calm down again. "Although I must ask…what brought you here to begin with, Erza?"

At this, Erza unexpectedly coughed and turned away as though she hadn't even heard the question, specifically trying to avoid meeting Gray's gaze.

"I-I just heard this was a nice place to eat, a-and maybe I just wanted to try their cake!" she stammered out, acting like she did whenever she got stage fright. "There was _no other reason_!"

"Okay, okay, jeez," scoffed Gajeel while scratching his ear, although with the way Erza was poking her fingers together no one entirely believed her. However, the moment was interrupted by Sue eagerly approaching them, ecstatically waving her arms as she bolted out of the restaurant with a look of glee.

"Heeeeey, you guys were amazing! Everyone was able to get out safely thanks to you!" she hollered, everyone breaking into smiles as she arrived. "I almost feel bad that I didn't get to join the fight, but you took care of it so quickly! Guess I shouldn't expect anything less from Fairy Tail, huh?"

"Eh, someone trying to kill us? Just another day for our bunch," grunted Gajeel as Levy sighed. "At least everyone's mostly in one piece…"

"Still, it's a shame that your date was interrupted though," Erza stated, shifting her weight uncomfortably. Gray groaned and folded his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, apparently can't do anything while in Fairy Tail…"

"Well, nothing's stopping y'all from heading back inside!" Sue pointed out with a chipper tone. "After all, you guys prevented a bad situation from becoming way worse; the least we could do is treat ya back to yer evening."

Natsu coughed and casually glanced away. "Yeaaaaah, but did you forget I busted most of the windows…?"

"Not to mention I might've gotten carried away myself…" Lucy murmured under her breath.

"Well, n-not the inside of course, but the outer patio in the back is still intact." Sue looked rather embarrassed herself, hiding her mouth behind her hand. "The rest of the patrons were evacuated since we didn't have a clue what was gonna happen, so you'd have the whole place to yerselves…"

Gajeel's eyes lit up.

"So when ya say everyone left…does that happen to include that godawful band?"

"Yeah, actually."

"Ugh, don't give him any ideas," moaned Lily, ignoring the disapproving way Gajeel was grimacing at him.

"Although, before you get too excited…" Sue nervously rubbed the back of her neck as she grinned sheepishly. "I_ did_ have to report what went down to the owner…"

Everyone immediately turned white with fear.

"Aw crap, he's probably gonna make us foot the bill for the damages," lamented Gray, with Juvia trying to comfort him by patting his exposed back. They all glanced back to Sue for some more clarification, but she only bit her lip and anxiously twisted her fingers together.

"Yeah, well, uh, he only told me that he wanted ta speak with y'all…"

As if on cue, an older gentleman emerged from the restaurant, black hair slicked back, mustache circled to perfection, and arms folded behind him. He carried himself with an air of authority and importance, and even Gajeel was feeling slightly intimidated by this man's palpable charisma. The group grew tenser with every step he took towards them, and once he was front and center, everyone braced themselves for whatever he would do and say next. They feared a reprimanding that would rival something Erza would dish out…

But instead, the owner suddenly dropped into a careful bow, leaving everyone utterly shocked.

"…you have my utmost gratitude, Fairy Tail."

Lucy, Gray, Gajeel, Lily, Erza, and Sue stared with puzzled expressions, while Juvia and Levy inwardly gasped and traded stunned looks.

Natsu, meanwhile, proceeded to snap his fingers in front of the man.

"Yo, guy, what's up with the formalities?" he asked utterly tactlessly, only stopped when Levy put a hand on his shoulder and yanked him back.

"Natsu, do you seriously not recognize him?! That's our client!" she silently-screamed, and Natsu blinked in pure astonishment. Seeing that Natsu wasn't making the connection, Juvia stepped on the opposite side of him and whispered in his ear.

"That means Nobleman Francis own the restaurant…!"

Now Natsu seemed to catch on and immediately gulped in the man's direction, but Francis made no movements out of rage. If anything, he looked remorseful…and it didn't seem to be because of any of them, strangely enough. Gajeel narrowed his eyes, putting the pieces together a little faster than Natsu, and immediately strolled up to the nobleman with a disgusted sneer.

"Yeah, he might be the owner and yer client, but that ain't all there is to this guy…"

All eyes fell on Francis once more, and his shoulders dejectedly sagged the slightest bit.

"So you know the truth about me, then," he murmured miserably. When he received massively confused looks from the majority of the group, he carefully grasped at the collar of his dress shirt and pulled it down just enough to reveal his collarbone…and the Black Thorn mark that rested beneath it.

Everyone except Gajeel gasped in surprise; Natsu, however, flung himself accusingly at the guy, only stopped by Lucy latching onto his back and yanking him next to her.

"Lemme go! Lemme at him! He was a member of that scummy dark guild this whole time!" he barked, each of his bitingly truthful words making Francis flinch. "He didn't even tell us! We were working for scum _that whole time_-!"

"Calm yourself, let the man explain!" Lucy demanded, knowing there must have been a justification for this. Natsu barely simmered down, but even though he was leering suspiciously at the well-dressed man, he was willing to hear him out. Francis gave Lucy a grateful nod before clearing his throat and beginning his tale.

"You see, I only _used_ to be a part of Black Thorn. I had fallen on hard times in my youth, and after getting myself tangled in a bad crowd, Black Thorn became my only option…they didn't have the best ethics, but it gave me something to work for, and a home no less…"

Gajeel grunted in response, but whether that was out of annoyance or empathy remained to be seen.

"I made a lot of money doing horrible things…and when I accumulated more than enough, I wanted to make up for all my wrongdoings by giving back to the people, hence I had the idea to open this restaurant. Through that, I was able to make clean money."

"I see…and that must be why you're keen on throwing parties all the time- that's one of the ways you give back," Levy realized, smiling a bit when Francis nodded.

"And of course I knew Black Thorn would find me eventually. You may leave the guild, but the guild never leaves you. Our guild marks are permanent, like a constant stain on our reputation…"

Gray blinked with interest. "Who knew a dark guild could be so philosophical?"

"Yep, premeditated murder and kidnappings really bring me enlightenment," scoffed Gajeel before making a face. "Seriously, Ice Pants?!"

"In any case," interrupted Francis, getting back on track. "The real reason I had you at my most recent party in the first place was because they'd caught up with me; they claimed that I _owed_ them for my success…I didn't mention the specifics before because I feared that no one would take a job from an ex-convict."

"Well, that's a pretty solid reason," Juvia murmured under her breath. "But now it makes more sense why you hand selected a group to attend your party! You already had heavy suspicions about what was going to go down and chose us based on our skill sets…and yet you guised it as simply 'party security'."

"I _knew_ there was something off about that!" exclaimed Gray with crazed-looking eyes, ignoring the stares he was getting. "If he really was just looking for nothing more than party security, he wouldn't have been so picky! He should've just been happy with whoever was willing to take the job!"

Miserable remorse emanated from Francis at this point, now wringing his hands together and unable to maintain eye contact with anyone.

"I felt so guilty about having to deceive you like that, so that's why I went the extra mile to allow you a free meal at my establishment. And yet it's almost startlingly selfish, using an already-paid meal for you and your friends to distract yourself from anything you might've pieced together on your mission…"

"…yeah that sucks, and I'm not justifying it, but I can certainly understand your reasons," Lucy intervened, eyeing the way Juvia and Levy suddenly looked downtrodden. They had been so excited about the dinner date, only to learn that it had been nothing more than an elaborate distraction and a placation. Francis took note of their soured expressions as well and instantly fell into an apologetic bow again.

"I never meant for you to be caught in the crosshairs because of enlisting your help; I knew how ruthless they would be and my actions put you at risk! I cannot apologize enough for the danger I put you all in…please, I'll make it up to you in any way you like-!"

"…nah. We did our job. We got our reward. It doesn't need to go beyond that."

Everyone fell silent before turning to Natsu, the once pissed dragon slayer now sliding his hands into the pockets of his dress pants as he sported his unique widespread grin.

"Fairy Tail wizards do jobs first and foremost in order to help people. The reward comes second, but it's not necessary…and anything that happens beyond the completion of a job, the client should not be held accountable for."

Francis' eyes went from twisting shut with regret to shooting wide open, rolling up to meet Natsu's genuine gaze. It softened, but it did not waver.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened after we went our separate ways. Sure, a little warning might've helped us in the long run, but there's no way you could've entirely known we'd be targeted, and tonight no less!" Natsu shrugged so aloofly that it was easy to forget how fired up he was just minutes ago. "Besides, no one got seriously hurt, the bad guys are beaten, and for the most part everything's okay! So no hard feelings, man!"

Lucy felt her face grow pink as she admired Natsu with a small smile, watching as he held his hand out to Francis with nothing but good intentions. Francis quickly clasped it with both of his hands and shook it frantically.

"Oh bless you, Mister Dragneel! I just…you've taken such a huge weight off my shoulders…"

"Yeesh, don't say _Mister Dragneel_. You make me sound like I'm four hundred years old or something!"

"He's just being formal!" Erza hissed as Natsu's blatant rudeness, making the dragon slayer squeak in response as he humbly apologized. Francis merely waved this off as he spread out his arms in a friendly fashion.

"In any case, you're all welcome to stay as long as you'd like- Sue, do you mind staying if I pay you overtime?"

"Psh, if it's for these guys? I'll do it free!" Sue laughed, although she then put her hands on her hips and frowned deeply, like something was nagging her. "Speaking of, whatever happened to the blue kitty?"

The crowd went quiet before all eyes fell on Natsu once again...but he was already bolting for the restaurant doors.

"_Crap_, he's still in the kitchen…!"

All the Fairy Tail members proceeded to groan, but eventually started to follow after Natsu. However, Erza didn't join them, instead turning to face the three fallen criminals she had finished off. Lucy halted and asked Erza if she was coming, but the knight quickly declined.

"You guys go on ahead, I have to finish dealing with these guys before I tell Master that the Black Thorn threat is taken care of for now…" She smiled and gave Lucy a knowing wink. "…and I'll leave you all to your date."

. . .

Walking through the restaurant was a little unsettling, given all the destructive damage –which Gajeel was happy to remind everyone was predominantly Natsu and Lucy's fault, much to Lucy's chagrin- although Francis of all people was the least fretted by the horrendous scene. He simply led them all out to the back patio, which remained unaffected by the fight, and Gray had to let out a whistle.

"It looks like an empty nightclub," Juvia remarked out of the blue, and it wasn't like she was wrong. You could tell that it was an area normally reserved for bigger parties, considering how spacious it was, but it felt cozy and welcoming just the same. Neon lavender tiles lined the floor, each outer table had a black-speckled umbrella on each one, and the backdrop of the starry sky and blinding half-moon above managed to set the scene.

"And again, the décor doesn't fail to impress!" Levy exclaimed as she clasped her hands together. Juvia nodded in agreement before gesturing over to a very abandoned-looking area, strewn with instruments and a lone microphone at the forefront.

"What's that over there?"

"That's normally where the private band would play, but as I mentioned, they left during the attack, along with much of the other staff," Francis explained wearily. "I apologize for the lack of atmosphere, but-"

"Tch, why apologize when you can make something out of nothing?" Gajeel suddenly boomed, and in a flash he was already making himself comfortable on the stage, although he looked a little out of place in a suit with torn sleeves. After tastefully selecting a guitar, he strapped it on and gave a wicked grin at the group. "I'll set the mood, no problem!"

"What, you gonna put us all in the mood to go running for the hills?" cackled Gray, earning a few snickers from Lucy and Lily against their better judgement. Gajeel gave them all a pointed look as he strummed the strings and tested them out- they weren't tuned, so everyone was treated to about three chords worth of ear pain.

Yet some people were impressed.

"Gajeel! I didn't know you were so smooth with the strings!" Sue gushed as she rapidly applauded before slipping away from the scene. Once she was gone, Gray, Lily, and Lucy immediately hung their heads.

"_He's not_."

"I happen to enjoy the musical stylings of Gajeel-kun most the time," Juvia stated dignifiedly, hoping to help the dragon slayer's case. She failed to convince anyone.

"…I'll take requests," Gajeel murmured as he proceeded to tune the guitar. No one was surprised when Gray's hand shot up.

"Can I request you to get off the stage?"

He was immediately met with Lucy shaking her head at him with a sideways grin.

"_Okay_, Mr. Comedian…don't be mean now."

"Yeah, stop it Gray," Levy huffed with a bit more irritation, turning back to face Gajeel. A look of uncertainty crossed her face before she scooped up Lily and whispered something into his ear, discretely slipping a piece of paper into the Exceed's paws. Lily nodded with his usual smirk and flew up to the stage, leaving Levy to nervously poke her fingers together. She could feel herself shrinking under Gajeel's intense stare aimed right at her, and kept her own eyes to the floor.

Lily handed Gajeel Levy's piece of paper- which, Gajeel realized, had been the napkin she'd been so diligently scribbling on during dinner. His sharp gaze scanned the words on it carefully, and after a few moments of observation glanced up to find that Levy was red up to her ears, with Gray chuckling and Lucy and Juvia dishing out their own brand of teasing.

"Oi, Shrimp."

"Eeeeep!" Levy chirped, adjusting her dress in a flustered fashion. "Y-Yeah?!"

Gajeel clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and shook his head. "Tch, I don't believe this…"

Levy couldn't have been redder. "W-_What_?!"

Somehow, the sly smirk Gajeel gained didn't exactly relax her rapidly beating heart.

"I don't believe that the girl who has the iron guts to march up to me, look me in the eye, and convince me to come here tonight…doesn't have the courage to sing the song she wrote."

Levy's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she was suddenly shaken by a squealing Lucy, looking far too pleased at this development.

"Ooooh, Levy, _you wrote a song_?!"

"I…I guess…"Levy murmured shyly. "It's not like its good…"

"Juvia wants to hear it! And she _doesn't_ want to hear it mangled by Gajeel-kun's expertise in words-murder."

"Oi, Juvia-!"

"Yeah Levy, we won't harp on you- think of it like harmless karaoke! There's no one here but us!" suggested Gray, and Levy shifted as though she was considering the idea. Gray began pumping his fists and chanting, which cued in Juvia and Lucy to do the same.

"Levy! Levy! Levy!"

Peer pressure was one of the strongest forces in the universe.

"Oh…fine…why not?"

As Levy hiked up her dress and had Lily assist her onto the small stage, Gajeel was already playing a riff as though to announce her entrance. Levy gave him a small smile- his singing might've been controversial, but there was no saying that his skill on guitar was bad. Especially since he was doing it all on the spot- he currently played a soft yet fast-paced melody that he hoped matched whatever she had in mind.

It was even better.

He paused for a moment to pass Levy her napkin, but she smiled and shook her head as she gripped the microphone. She already had it memorized.

Silently understanding, Gajeel went back to playing, and Levy got started singing.

As expected, she was a little soft-spoken on the first few words, fearing the reactions of her friends, but after getting cheers and thumbs up from Gray, Lucy, Juvia, and a dancing Lily, she found herself laughing and letting loose, twirling around on the stage and let her dress flare out as she spun. As Gajeel's fingers glided over the strings, he couldn't help but find himself concentrating the most on her singing. Sure, those big and fancy words that normally poured from her mouth were already pleasant to the ear, but hearing that voice coated in such a sweet harmony…he could get used to the sound.

As Levy grew more confident and Gajeel matched her beat, Juvia started to feel her shoulders swaying to the rhythm as she had an uncontrollable urge to dance. She was so busy watching Levy delicately prancing about and getting into it that Juvia couldn't help but be spurned to move as well. Her eyes lit up with an idea as she spun towards Gray, catching him off guard when her hands clasped around one of his.

"Gray-sama~!" Juvia suddenly called out, gleefully tugging him towards the middle of the floor with hope in her eyes. "You should dance with Juvia, pleeeeeease?!"

"W-what?!" Gray stammered, instantly growing tense. "I…don't really dance…"

"Oh, but the mood is soooo perfect!" Juvia gushed, putting her hands to her face as she eagerly twirled around. "The dimmed lights, the soft music, the inexplicable urge to match the beat…! Two people moving as one of the dance floor, entranced with one another as the music begins to wind down, drawing them closer and closer with building romantic tension, _and then_-!"

She paused when she saw the looks she was receiving from Lucy and Gray; Lucy appeared mildly entertained while Gray was glancing around frantically.

"…well, Juvia can dream. She just wants to dance, Gray-sama. Hmph."

"Yeah, go on Gray!" Lucy announced, elbowing him coyly in the ribs, which wasn't hard since he still neglected to put his shirt back on. "Don't wanna keep a lady waiting!"

"But…I…_dancing_…"

"Please! It's not like it's _that_ kind of song, Gray."

The teasing in Lucy's tone did not go unnoticed; both Juvia and Gray flushed red for varying reasons, although Juvia grew more flustered by the second. Desperate to break the building silence, Gray immediately grabbed Juvia and twirled her onto the dance floor, ignoring the hooting whistle from Gajeel that powered over the notes of Levy's song. Juvia sent an embarrassed look Gajeel's way before Gray repositioned her in front of him, with him sweating, frowning, and evading her gaze but nonetheless falling into step with her.

"…Gray-sama could have said no," Juvia murmured, shyly staring up at him. "Despite what people say, Juvia does not want you to do anything you don't want to…"

"…well if I really hadn't wanted to, I wouldn't have agreed," Gray pointed out. Juvia gasped dramatically in return, but he pressed a finger to her lips to keep her calm for the moment. "Besides, I'm still…trying to reassure myself that you're all right."

"Of course Juvia is all right!" the Water Mage exclaimed as a smile grew on her face. "There is no way she would have just anyone take her away, especially not from you!"

"I know," Gray groaned with a mock eye-roll, though a smile played on his lips. It then fell into a small frown as a new thought crossed his mind, and his eyes finally met hers. "But I'm just sorry tonight didn't turn out the way you would have liked. No one deserves an interruption like that, and I wish I could've made things better for you."

Juvia grew quiet, thinking it over as he cautiously glided her along the dancefloor. But eventually, her face broke into a smile as her arms found their way around his neck.

"…well, you're here with Juvia, aren't you?" Juvia asked lightly, pressing herself to him as close as possible. Gray muffled out some protest, until she gently relaxed her head onto his shoulder and did nothing beyond that. "Then you don't have to do any more than that. Gray-sama caring is what's important!"

Gray was silent for a little bit, letting it all sink in. After a while he allowed himself to emit an amused chuckle before adjusting themselves into a more comfortable position, then began to slow dance properly. Juvia's face was absolutely awash with joy, and Gray seemed pretty content himself.

Lucy smiled as she watched her friends all having a good time- Levy had finally started getting into the grove and sliding knowing glances at a thoroughly happy Gajeel, while Gray had loosened up and Juvia couldn't possibly be more elated. It was the perfect wind down to their hectic evening, and it was nice to just be able to breathe.

"I see you started the party without me, tch."

Despite sounding annoyed, Lucy spun around and didn't find any trace of malice coming from Natsu. Instead his face was half-full just from his grin, and he had two glasses of what appeared to be sparkling punch in his hands, one of which he handed to Lucy. She stared at it suspiciously.

"…Lucy, it's fine. It's just some bubbly juice Sue made right before I had her take care of Happy. He is _so_ not waking up anytime soon." He shrugged as he drank the one meant for him. "Mine's got stuff in it to ease my eventual hangover, but it's still gonna sucker punch me…"

"I'm sure you'd be fine anyway- your body would probably burn through the alcohol fast," Lucy pointed out as she finally accepted the drink. Natsu visibly relaxed as he leaned against the table, standing next to her.

"Yeah, well, if that bastard hadn't messed with my magic, maybe I'd be better already…"

Lucy nodded as she subconsciously reached for the bruise on her neck; Natsu's eyes locked straight onto it, and she already knew what he was thinking.

"Don't you dare blame yourself for this. I had things mostly under control but then I got cocky and this happened…that's what I get for letting my guard down."

Natsu huffed like he wanted to disagree, but he let it go for now, not wanting the fight beforehand to dampen the mood. As Lucy carefully sipped at her drink, Natsu redirected his gaze towards the sky overhead. It was currently a mix of navy blue and a deep shade of purple, all dotted with stars and accented with a half moon. He put on a lopsided grin at the sight and casually nudged Lucy to look at it too.

"Nice night, eh?"

"It is," Lucy agreed, admiring the stars. "A nice night for a nice date…"

Natsu blinked and whipped his head to face her. "Even after everything…you still thought it was nice?"

"Well, not the 'us nearly dying part', but yes." Lucy twirled her thumbs together, avoiding his intense look. "I always have fun with you…I really am glad you took me, even if I didn't totally catch onto your intentions…"

Natsu gulped and rubbed the back of his neck, well aware that things definitely could've gone better.

"Eh, well, I mean, it's my first time doing anything close to this…" His voice grew quieter with every word he spoke, head lowering until he was facing directly at the ground. "I didn't mean to pressure you, but I wanted to take someone I was comfortable with, that's all…and it'd be awkward if a cat was my first date."

He smirked as Lucy covered up a snort, her brown gaze eyeing him out of the corner of her eyes. After a comfortable silence, Lucy sighed and set her glass down before her folding her arms in front of her and staring shyly at the ground.

"I guess it's no surprise I was your first pick, then. No one better than your best friend, right?" Lucy asked, continuing before Natsu could answer. "…yeah, I'm sorry I jumped to confusions too quickly. It's not that I think you're dense, but with how you simply _are_, it's hard to think of you being interested in anything…romantic…and then suggesting something so implicit got me worked up. Cana's prediction didn't help."

"No it didn't," Natsu murmured under his breath, clenching his glass. Still, Lucy missed his flash of anger, and he let his face relax once more as he scooted closer to her. "And it's not like I blame ya for thinking the way you did. I'm…just not used to stuff like this, and since I had the opportunity, I just wanted to see what a date would be like…"

He coughed and submerged his face in his scarf.

"…ya know, for future reference. Just in case. And stuff."

"Well, under that logic I could use some practice too," Lucy hummed, nudging his arm and making him brighten up. "While this is the most…eventful…date I've ever been on-"

Natsu inwardly cringed. So much for a good impression…

"-it's always better when we're together. An ambushed date wouldn't change that."

Lucy smiled to herself for a while, feeling Natsu's stare gently resting on her for a few moments before a warm chill crawled up her arm. The back of his hand ran against her bare skin before reaching her hand and grasping it gently in his, yet before Lucy could question the action he had practically spun in front of her and tugged her out to the dance floor. Levy's song had slowed into a gradual progression and Gajeel's strumming had dialed back as well, completely turning the atmosphere on its head. Juvia had already adapted, melting herself into Gray's embrace with large hearts in her eyes while Gray himself guided her along and desperately tried to avoid meeting anyone's gaze.

Lucy yelped as Natsu abruptly stopped, forcing her to tumble forward and straight into his grip, one hand still clutching hers and the other placed instinctively at her back. She flushed from the close contact while Natsu just grinned down at her, apparently not deterred at all.

"You said you'd make it up to me, remember?" he reminded her in his lighthearted tone. Lucy's heart immediately raced- what did he have in mind?!

"Yeah, I said that," she finally breathed out, daring to look him in the eyes. Thankfully his gaze wasn't intense, but somehow it still had her captivated. Natsu caught her look and snorted at her.

"Sheesh Luce, all I wanted was to finish this date in peace, even though I _could_ force you to let me read some of your novel-"

"No you can't! And besides, you and reading don't exactly go together!" she chided before softening up. "…but that's all you want from me?"

"That's all I wanted this whole time!" Natsu exclaimed, self-consciously blushing upon registering how a little_ too_ loud that was. His head found its way back into his scarf again. "I just…_really_ like spending time with ya, Luce."

He did everything to avoid her gaze, but when her arm moved up to wrap around his neck he didn't exactly have that luxury. He was made to stare down at the blonde in front of him, his heart thrumming in relief when she beamed at him.

"Then don't hold back and dance with me."

Natsu grinned fiercely at her implied challenge, and while he wasn't exactly the most graceful dancer, they somehow managed to make Juvia shriek in envy when they twirled by, evidence by her insistence towards Gray to pick up the pace. Lucy giggled at them before turning over to Levy, who gave her friends a thumbs up when they passed and even Gajeel had on a twistedly approving look.

Needlessly to say, their little waltz wasn't a slow dance by any means, nor did they have the most elegant of movements, but it really didn't even matter. Natsu was so ridiculously happy just to have her close that he found himself laughing spiritedly, and even just getting a glimpse of his amazing smile was more than enough to make Lucy feel the same way.

She hadn't had the slightest bit of alcohol but _boy_ was she drunk on happiness.


	19. Yes, Water Droplets Melt Cold Hearts

**If you didn't already know, I was steamrolled by a little thing called "college" these past two weeks, so it's been hard to focus lately. But there's no way I'm giving up on this story, not when I'm so close!**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 18: Yes, Water Droplets Melt Cold Hearts~

Eventually the night had to draw to a close for the group of six, and the three pairs inevitably had to divide up in order to return home. Juvia didn't want the night to end- gliding about on the dancefloor with her beloved Gray was like something straight out of fairy tale, feeling like they were the only two in the room- scratch that, the only two in the world! Gray had been uncomfortable at first, but seeing as no one was really giving him any grief over it –because Natsu was just as guilty of dancing and Gajeel wasn't in a position to talk- he finally allowed himself to relax, and there was nothing more precious to Juvia than when she got to see Gray sincerely happy.

Gray currently wasn't saying anything at the moment, not that Juvia minded. She didn't need anything more from him than his company right then anyway, and she sighed softly as she rested her head as comfortably as she could onto his shoulder while they walked.

Meanwhile, Gray indulged in the sound of silence, since it allowed him to sort through his thoughts a little better. He was a touch distracted by the way Juvia had his arm captured in both of hers and was gingerly propping herself onto him, but he allowed it this time. There had to be a lot of things weighing on Juvia's mind too, plus she appeared incredibly exhausted…not that he could blame her.

She had looked forward to this night almost more than anyone else, only for it all to result in an ambush, on top of learning that her dream date wasn't everything it should have been. Frankly, Gray was disappointed too. Her first date...her first _real_ date…it had gone to hell, and he wasn't able to prevent it.

And yet still she smiled, having all the glee in the world visible on her face as she simply enjoyed the moment for what it was, perfectly content just walking alongside him. It continued to amaze Gray how she always managed to find the good in everything; always embracing the brighter side of even the most hopeless situations. Like him, she too had gone through a lot of strife in the course of her short lifetime, but on the surface, her experiences didn't appear to taint her. Not in the slightest.

It kinda made Gray feel crappy about himself, seeing as his inner turmoil always managed to get the best of him at the most inopportune times.

That's why he tried so hard to keep what he felt so bottled up; that was how he hoped to tame his wildly rampaging emotions…yet still they managed to bubble right back up to the surface. He was so busy trying to deal with _himself_ that he didn't dare let another soul in too close, for in trying they would get hurt…or he would hurt them without meaning to.

How was he supposed to take care of someone else's feelings when handling his own was such a huge struggle?

The realization made his skin crawl, and in his haggard state managed to steal a glance at Juvia. She hadn't moved at all, but Gray became restless as he glanced down the sidewalk- Fairy Hills was coming up fast.

How were things going to play out now? What did Juvia think about all of this? Was Cana's prediction still in play?

"Gray-sama, you've gone colder than usual!" Juvia chirped in shock, eying the goosebumps lining his arm with astonishment. "Is something the matter?"

"It's…all right, just a…cold flash, I guess."

Jeez he was a horrible liar.

"Huh, is that actually a thing? Juvia cannot say she knew that…"

Gray opened his mouth to keep the conversation going on that train of thought, since they were currently walking up the path to Fairy Hill, but Juvia had released him and exuberantly twirled her way on ahead, looking absolutely radiant in the moonlight.

"Well, Juvia supposes she would get chills too from such a wonderful night!"

"…I wouldn't exactly call it 'wonderful', but-"

"Sure it was!" Juvia insisted with palpable fervor. "We got to spend time with some of our best friends, Juvia got to learn sooo many new things about Gray-sama, and Levy's romantic song at the end…! It was bliss!"

"Speakin' of her, where the heck did she and Gajeel go?" Gray completely went off on a tangent, now scanned around for a sign of the odd duo. "There's no way they beat us here…"

"Maybe they just weren't ready to end their date," Juvia suggested with a lightly teasing tone. "Juvia wouldn't mind doing the same…but she knows that Gray-sama is hurt and wants to go home."

Gray slightly flinched at how direct that was, but played it off with a quick smile.

"Yeesh, that almost sounds like you're tryna get rid of me."

"Eek! No, no, that's not it at all…! W-wait, does Gray-sama _want_ to extend this date?!"

"NO!" Gray yelped frantically, only to backpedal his words. "…that came out wrong. Um-"

"I know what you meant, don't worry. You get worked up so easily! Silly Gray-sama~"

The Ice Mage pointedly murmured disgruntledly under his breath as Juvia reveled in his flustered state, noticing that they were standing right in front of the entrance to Fairy Hills. Juvia's fists tensed at her sides in that moment, knowing she would have to part with her beloved Gray now…but it wasn't like they wouldn't see each other at the guild the next day.

Still, neither of them seemed to know how to begin their goodbyes, both awkwardly shuffling in place. It wasn't until Juvia got sick of the silence did she seize Gray's wrist, the abrupt action cutting off whatever he'd been about to say.

"…I know I said this already, but thank you so much for coming with me tonight," Juvia practically whispered, wrapping her fingers tighter around his cold wrist. "Whether it was just to keep me safe or you didn't want to hurt my feelings…thanks. It means more than you know."

"…Juvia, I didn't know anything about Black Thorn when you first asked me," he started slowly, with Juvia blinked as she brought her head up to face him.

"B-But what about the prediction Gray-sama mentioned…?"

"…I confess, it had me concerned," Gray coughed as he turned away quickly. "But I swear, it didn't influence my answer. I…guess I really did want to come with you tonight."

And _maybe_ Erza had been right. Damn it.

Juvia's face was practically glowing infrared at this point, looking like a rocket that was ready to shoot off into space.

"I-in that case, is it possible that we could…we could, um….do this again sometime?"

Gray's face immediately fell as the girl before him began nervously poking her fingers together. "Juvia, I-"

"I-It doesn't have to be right away, of course! But, um, I'd thought I'd ask…"

Gray didn't answer right away, unable to put his thoughts into words fast enough and left standing there looking like an idiot. Juvia took his silence as hesitance and had a feeling as to what he would say anyway, heaving a tiny sigh as she brushed her hair out of her face.

"…oh well, didn't hurt to try…" she murmured, clouds beginning to roll in over Fairy Hills yet it did not rain. She pulled away from Gray and began to make her way up the steps, no longer looking over her shoulder. "Good night, Gray-sama…"

Gray could literally _feel_ her slipping away even as she blatantly walked away from him, but for whatever reason the symbolism of the action was driving him mad. On a heartbeat's whim, he stepped forward and called out to her, begging her to stop before she took another step.

"…Juvia, before you go…"

Juvia's hand froze on the door handle at the sound of Gray's strangled words, but she didn't turn around, only lowering her shoulders to indicate that she was listening. Gray caught the subtle act and tried his hardest not to squirm in place, though in the next moment he was wearily tugging at his collar.

"Listen, I really hate to end the night like this, but I want everything to be crystal clear between us. I want to be clear about where we stand right now." Oh, that had sounded so much bolder in Gray's head, but his anxiousness made the words comes out as a garbled mess. It was surprise that Juvia hadn't asked him to repeat that mangling of language. "I-I know you probably expected more out of this date, but I need you to understand that we're…we're really still nothing more than just friends."

Juvia's hand lifelessly slipped off the door handle, yet she still didn't move to face him. Gray immediately regretted his words as his fingers found their way into his bangs, gripping them tightly as words poured out of him at a frantic rate.

"I-I know that really makes me look bad and I really did like spending time with you but I had to tell you now so you didn't get the wrong idea! The last thing I want to do is lead you on but I hate hurting you oh just don't cry-!"

"Gray-sama."

Gray gulped himself into silence as he flinched, fearing that it was only a matter of time before he was literally swept away by a wave of emotions. However, after cowering on reflex for what seemed like hours, he dared to peek over his arms again…and actually found Juvia smirking at him, one hand placed coyly on her hip, though the smile didn't quite reach her eyes.

"Juvia knew that already. She knew that…even before she asked you to come with her tonight."

Gray finally allowed himself to break out of his defensive state as he gained a look of confusion; Juvia waltzed up next to him, her simple grin having melted into a watery smile.

"Wait, are you telling me that this…" Gray stammered, having troubling getting out his disbelieving thoughts." This wasn't one of your plans to-?"

Juvia shyly shrugged, already knowing where he was going with this. "…no, not this time."

…Gray immediately felt bad for jumping to conclusions when it came to Juvia's intentions. He'd been so apprehensive about the date thanks to Erza going on about Cana's prediction, not to mention the things Wendy had been saying…and even though Juvia was obviously crazy about him, that didn't mean _everything _she did was automatically a ploy to get his attention.

"I-I see," Gray coughed, now feeling heavily awkward for trying to lay down the line where there didn't to be one in the first place. He felt his face turn red out of embarrassment, making Juvia giggle to herself. "In that case, I'm, um, sorry…"

"Don't trouble yourself over it. Even if Juvia _had _gone into this with the hope that tonight would have changed things between us, she knows the odds of that are unlikely." She pulled her gaze from him and let it fall to the ground, now suddenly interested in her shoes. "It was just one date- it's silly to believe that such a large change could come about in a single night…"

It fell silent between them after that, the only sound being the whistling of the late evening wind. Gray's abashed state was replaced by genuine surprise at Juvia's response, for it hadn't been anything he really expected. His mind was flashing back to the day she'd so eagerly flounced up to him and proposed her question. Her face had been illuminated with hope, but now she was fighting to keep the half-hearted smile on after confronting the cold hard truth. Gray wished he could take back his words and say "Oh maybe we'll be together someday anyway!" but things just weren't that simple.

At least, not with how things were now.

Juvia peeped a little when Gray's palm unexpectedly landed on the top of her head, tilting it backwards so she was left looking up at him. Despite the thick tension between them, Gray attempted a light smile to ease things up a bit. He couldn't keep his voice from quivering at how bad he felt, however.

"…this is so hard to put into words," he practically whispered, Juvia hearing it anyways as she blinked in rejoinder. "But you know, I think I realized something when I was paling around with Wendy yesterday…"

"Did you now?" Juvia wasn't entirely sure if she wanted to know what this_ something_ was, though knowing Gray he'd tell her anyway. But still, he hesitated. "Well, out with it! What is it, Gray-sama?"

"…that if there was to ever be any hope for us, there's a few things we'd both need to work on."

Again he expected a massive freak out on Juvia's part, but Juvia once more gave him a stare like he was an idiot for not realizing that sooner but wasn't going to say so. The coy expression morphed into one of exhaustion as she nodded, still with his hand on her head.

"Juvia already told you she knew that."

As Gray was left to gape like a fish, Juvia chuckled softly and removed his hand, yet kept it perched in her own grip. Contrary to belief, he didn't feel cold…not to her, anyway.

"Love takes time, and love takes work Gray-sama…on _both_ ends," Juvia stated pointedly, with some of the light returning to her face. "The time and effort you put into relationships- that's what gives them their worth, and that's why Juvia treats every moment with everyone so preciously. It's why even the littlest of things can make someone want to jump for joy, or why we feel glee or envy when we see others sharing a moment with one another…"

She slipped her fingers between his and kept them there, staring up at him through her eyelashes.

"It's why it hurts so much when we lose those we love, and why we feel like we're missing a piece of ourselves afterwards…it's because we are." She tightened her grip around his for reassurance. "Juvia understands why Gray-sama is so hesitant to love, and it's why Juvia tries so hard to keep Gray-sama close…"

"…because we both don't want to lose people we care about," Gray finished in a breathless realization, remembering Juvia's words in their battle against Mercury. Only now was he beginning to comprehend what she had truly meant by feeling the same way he did… Could it be that she truly did get him, in a way that so many others had yet to?

His thoughts were cut off when Juvia suddenly stepped away from him, ripping her hand from his to instead grip her arms and turn away.

"Juvia_ knows_…she is over the top and clingy," she confessed, appearing exceedingly self-conscious about it. "But it's because Juvia has never loved someone so much before- she doesn't know what to _do_! Juvia has so much love to share and so few ways to express it…"

She bit her lip and started to lose her composure a bit, beginning to look like quivering gelatin with how hard she was shaking.

"I guess what_ I_ think is fine is…creepy to others…but I don't do it on_ purpose_, I just-"

"This is true," Gray replied, blunt as always. Juvia gave him a fleetingly disapproving look, but it vanished when he draped his arm around her to keep her calm and guided her towards the steps so they could at least sit down. Once they were a little more comfortable, Gray took a deep breath and continued. "But now that you've explained yourself somewhat, at least now I can begin to understand you a little better. The things you do sometimes may be off putting, but the reasons behind them make you a bit more relatable, I suppose."

The silence that rose between them this time was much less foreboding, with Gray sneaking a glance over at Juvia while she wasn't paying attention. The moonlight cast a glowing halo around her contemplative form, illuminating the tiny smile that graced her features. He only realized he'd been staring when her cool blue eyes rose to meet his, cuing him to hastily pretend he'd been staring off the down the street.

"Thank you for understanding, Gray-sama." Her smallish voice pulled him back into reality, unable to miss the wistfulness in her tone. "…and Juvia is well aware that you're not ready for a committed relationship. Juvia would never force you into anything that wouldn't make you happy, you know. Juvia can wait."

"Argh, don't _say_ things like that! You shouldn't have to 'wait' for me!" Gray groaned out, causing Juvia to blink cautiously while she turned to witness his outward distress. "Especially not for someone like me…s'not like I'm worth it…"

"Mm, Gray-sama shouldn't doubt himself so much," Juvia contested, waving her index finger around. "And besides, I am not waiting for _you_; I'm merely being patient for the day that Gray-sama wants a relationship! And whether or not you choose me, I'll be happy if _you_ are, because you deserve to be!"

Gray felt himself freeze in place before finally making the move to face her again. She was one hundred percent serious with her claim, and that look of sunshine on her face told no lies. He couldn't believe how full of compassion this girl was; even with her dips into unfiltered rage or misplaced envy, there was nothing she cared for more than the people she surrounded herself with. She wasn't afraid to show it either, willing to do anything in her power to _prove _it, even if it meant disappointment for herself somewhere down the line.

He heavily respected her for that.

In fact, he really wished he could be just like her, and didn't have a heart made of ice and was as fragile as glass. He also wished he could _tell_ her that…

However, before he could even think about a possible way to phrase his words, their moment of reprieve was cut short when Juvia spontaneously leapt to her feet and clasped her hands together with an excited flair.

"Oh, oh, Juvia almost completely forgot, what with all this soul-searchy talk…!" she exclaimed, spinning on her heel to beam at Gray. "Juvia has something special to give to you! It's inside though, so Juvia will have to go grab it!"

"Aw Juvia, you really didn't have to give me anyth-"

"Juvia insists! And she promises that Gray-sama will love it!"

"Okay, okay, if you're THAT adamant…" Gray relented, rising to stand as well. "Let's see what you've got."

Juvia couldn't contain her excitement and squealed eagerly, already hopping towards the door.

"All right! Stay here!" she called over her shoulder. She ran a few steps before pausing and shooting him a stern look. "…please, stay here."

'I'm not going anywhere Juvia, I swear," Gray assured, sliding his hands into his pockets and locking eyes with Juvia until she was satisfied. She hummed to herself before morphing into a stream of water, crashing through the doorway and traveling at a breakneck pace. As Gray wait for her to return, he couldn't help but be slightly worried at whatever she planned to bring out- after all, her gifts ranged from painstakingly handcrafted scarfs to buns with his face on them…to giant body pillows of himself.

There was no ruling out_ anything_.

As his mind conjured up less-than-wanted images of what Juvia would bring, but he wanted to give Juvia the benefit of the doubt. She seemed earnestly excited about whatever she had up her sleeves, which must've meant that the gift held some deeper significance.

After a short time Juvia returned with a flounce in her step, bouncing in front of Gray and proudly producing the item from behind her back. Gray inspected it with a critical eye before reaching out to grab it –it was primarily rectangular, predominantly flat, and covered with decorative wrapping, so it didn't appear harmful. His eyes flicked to Juvia practically evaporating away from anticipation before hastily shaking his head and peeling away the wrapping.

When he finally freed the gift of its containment, his heart admittedly skipped a beat upon discovering just _what_ it was.

In his hand was a brand new pristine sketchbook, along with some drawing pens, colored paints, and even a literal magic eraser that could clear off any marking from paper. Gray found himself gaping in awe for the longest time before suddenly stepping next to Juvia in a single stride. She tingled from the close contact and wondered if she'd done something wrong, especially when he whispered dangerously low into her ear.

"…how did _you_ know?"

He sounded more cautious than angry, which Juvia chose to take as a good thing before rocking on her heels and sporting a wide sappy smile.

"Juvia met with Lyon-sama this morning!" Gray groaned as though he should have known better, leaving Juvia in a mess of smiles as she continued to ramble. "He told Juvia how much you like to do art because it helps fuel your creativity, which makes it easier for you to visualize your attacks better in battle! That's _so neat_!"

Gray shrunk back and glanced away somewhat shyly. "W-well, I'm-"

"And_ then_ Juvia said to herself, 'That _must_ be why everything Gray-sama creates is_ so_ intricate and beautiful!'" she gushed, leaning in towards him afterwards with a genuinely curious pout. "How come you've never mentioned you possess such a wonderful skill before?"

"I…never thought anyone would really care…" Gray murmured, shuffling the art supplies so that he had a better hold on them. "I mean, I'm no Reedus, and the last thing I want is Flame Brain and Metal Head on my case-"

"But you've got your own wonderful style, and I'm sure Fairy Tail would love to see!" Juvia prodded, but upon catching the hesitant slack to Gray's shoulders, she relented a little bit. "…of course, Juvia _will_ keep this a secret if that is what Gray-sama desires. Ooh, this is even _better_~! Juvia knows something special about you that no one else does~!"

Gray began to relax at last, simpering at her enthusiasm and admiring the impressive spread nestled in his arms. She even went out of her way to get the highest quality supplies…she really didn't have to do that...

"Thanks Juvia…I think I owe you one."

"No you don't- Juvia gave you that gift out of the kindness of her heart!" she practically sang. Seconds later, she gained a somewhat cloy look. "However, if you _really _wanted to pay Juvia back…you should paint her in a picture! She could be your model! It would be beautiful and Juvia would treasure it for always~!"

Seeing Juvia getting so ridiculously overjoyed at the idea of him painting her –hell, she hadn't even seen his work!- made a warm feeling swell within his chest, and he had to admit, it was a pure sensation that he'd been missing for a long time. Unable to fight the grin off his face, Gray let it stay there as he proceeded to wink at her.

"…heh, it's a date then."

Juvia blinked at his phrasing of words before cheerfully celebrating in place, utterly _exuding_ happiness afterwards. As she made her way to leave once more with her head now held high and a brighter disposition, it was becoming increasingly apparent to Gray that Juvia gave so much more than she ever got in return. He knew she thrived on the kindness of good deeds alone, but that only made her deserve a little retribution that much more…and a mere picture could never do enough justice for all she did for him…

So maybe…just this once…Gray could fully repay her.

A squeak escaped from Juvia as Gray snagged her wrist with his free hand, pulling her close in such a way that she twirled straight into his arms. Juvia was speechless at the sudden movement and at the fact that this was quickly playing out like one of her fantasies…

"Juvia…you are too pure for this world sometimes," he rumbled under his breath before gently clasping his hand behind her head and tilting her forehead upwards so he could press a light kiss to it.

…but the real thing was _always_ better.

Juvia released some intelligible squeal as she melted from the gentle contact of his lips, Gray having trouble balancing her with his one free arm. Sure it was just a simple gratitude kiss on the forehead, and there was no need to make a big deal out of it…but this was _momentous_ for Gray! She couldn't even begin to imagine how fast his heart must have been thrumming from such an innocent yet ardent action…and she was frankly happier that he'd opened his heart a little than at the fact he'd showed her genuine affection. Perhaps Lyon had been right, and that she did have the power to melt his frigid heart someday…

"That was to thank you for all the wonderful things you've done for me…" Gray susurrated, knowing how obvious the blush he was wearing was. "I know it doesn't seem like I pay attention…but I really do."

Juvia was stunned into silence as her mind haphazardly spun around what had just gone down, but without thinking she'd once again thrown her arms around Gray for a tight embrace, pulling herself close enough to his ear to whisper in a watery tone,

"You're always welcome."

With that, she set him free, bidding him farewell until tomorrow. Gray was left standing in a sense of wonder as she merrily skipped back to the entrance of Fairy Hill, treating him with a final wave goodbye and vanishing beyond the door. A high-pitched scream of utter joy was heard afterwards, and Gray found himself chuckling and shaking his head. He stood there for the longest time after that, trying to come to terms with what he'd just done, the things he agreed to, and what was to come…but if one night with Juvia hadn't been so bad, who was to say another night with her couldn't be even better?

Either way, maybe he was finally ready to give her chance- not right this very instant, of course…but he could ease into it.

Yeah, he could do that.


	20. And Yes, Words Can Temper Iron

**Uwaaah this chapter was a _pain_ to write I won't even lie, mainly because I had to keep in mind that Tartaros hasn't happened yet here, but it's doooone~ Thank you all for being _so_ patient with me, it means a lot :') *crying happily***

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.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 20: And Yes, Words Can Temper Iron~

When Levy said there was still somewhere she wanted to go after the date was over, Gajeel hadn't thought all that much of it when he agreed. His mind was still full of the sweet sound she'd made up on that stage, and if he had known that shy little Levy possessed such a golden voice, he would've attempted a duet with her ages ago. Already he had future plans in mind…

Though for now he was contented with the way Levy was gliding down the path, a hummed version of the song she sang dancing through her lips. She slightly took the lead as she wrapped both her lithe arms around Gajeel's much larger muscular one, and Gajeel let her guide him, as it wasn't as though he had better places to be. And even Gajeel had to admit he was at least somewhat curious as to what Levy had in mind.

But imagine his surprise when he was pulled out of his thoughts by Levy abruptly veering off the path to Fairy Hills and tugging him in a completely different direction…straight towards the one place he never wished to see again.

"What are we doing here, Miss Levy?"

The question came from the ever inquisitive Lily, the Exceed having been flying over their heads the whole time and matching Gajeel's confusion at the deviation from their intended destination. However, unlike Lily, Gajeel seemed to be quickly picking up on whatever was happening, as he was completely blanching with some sort of quiet realization. Levy only shrugged in response.

"No special reason, it's just, what with all the craziness that went down, I thought this would be a nice place to relax and pull ourselves together again! Nice atmosphere, a lovely night view-"

"Yeah, that's just peachy and everything, but why _here_, Levy?"

Lily balked at the sudden sharpness of Gajeel's words, although the dragon slayer appeared more distressed instead of harboring any anger. Levy glanced guiltily at them both like she expected such a reaction, but let her shoulders fall as she sighed quietly. Turning her back to the boys, she let her gaze fall on the single object that would never fail to fill Gajeel with shudders of regret.

A dark, gnarly tree permanently engraved with the marks of a tragedy best forgotten…but Gajeel would never forget.

He glared daggers into it, clenching his fists so tightly that it made the veins in his arms strain and threaten to pop.

"We shouldn't have come here, Shrimp…" His tone was drenched with warning; his whole body had become rigidly stiff.

"Yes, we _should_," Levy fired back, standing straight as she asserted her position. She refused to let her stance waver. "I've been noticing lately that there's something keeping you held back…" She gestured towards the tree with a small smile. "…so I thought we could get to the root of the problem."

"Damn it, that is NOT funny-!"

"Wait, wait, wait; what's so bad about this tree…?" Lily demanded, stepping between the duo with his paws on his hips. "And does it have anything to do with why Gajeel's been acting all mysterious and closed up and why Jet and Droy were warning him?!"

"_Lily_-!"

"Waaaait." Levy interrupted Gajeel's rant right then and then, whipping her head around and locking eyes with him. "You…never told him what happened?"

"_No_!" Lily whined out of the blue, then shrunk back embarrassedly and tried to regain his composure...and some dignity. "…but it seems like he had his reasons to not tell me and I have to respect that, no matter how much I hound him otherwise."

Levy's expression softened as she continued to face Gajeel, only to find him standing over her with his stare locked on the trunk of the mighty oak. Lily continued to fume at being left out of the loop, wanting to be respectful but also unable to deny his interest. He gasped when Levy unexpectedly knelt down next him, letting her thin fingers pet him between the ears.

"Please, don't take it personally, Lily. What happened…was how we met. And it's not a very pretty story."

Gajeel snorted at her phrasing, feeling himself grow tense as he knew the _real_ nitty gritty story. He was the cause of it, after all.

"'Course it wasn't a very pretty story…yer first impression of me was the one I left branded on yer stomach."

Lily didn't miss the way Levy froze in that moment, ghosting her hand across her abdomen. Amazingly there wasn't a physical trace of that day left on her body, but the emotional imprint would _never_ go away, even if she had walked away from it. When she didn't immediately speak up to protest, Gajeel grunted in a way as though to say 'I told you so', making Levy cast her gaze towards the ground.

"Either way, that was a rather…dark way to put it," Levy mumbled, squeaking when Gajeel's fist slammed thunderously into the tree trunk.

"What, do ya want me to sugarcoat it?! Well I _can't_ because that's the cold hard truth of what happened!"

"But it was such a long time ago; how can you still dwell on it?"

"It doesn't matter how long ago it was- it's always gonna weigh me down. It's gonna follow me like some dark persistent shadow…" Gajeel gritted his jagged teeth as he forced himself to go on. "I don't deserve anything good in this world…not until I can prove I earned it."

He spread out his hand and pressed his palm flat against the bark of the tree; he winced the slightest bit, as if the pain from the past suddenly came rushing back. Levy's eyes traced the length of his arm and shuddered when she saw _that spot_ on the tree.

The spot where she'd been strung up and marked for all the world to see.

He remembered it all too vividly- the way she, Jet, and Droy had been strung up like Christmas ornaments, their clothes in tatters and several parts of their bodies left so badly marred and bruised. Levy herself had it the worst- a gnash on her leg, her hair disheveled from how he'd harshly torn off her headband and stomped all over it, her shorts and shirt left in unrecognizable tatters, and Phantom Lord's ostentatious guild symbol emblazoned where it didn't belong.

He remembered how he'd laughed it all off like it was the greatest practical joke ever pulled, and every reminiscence of that fact churned his insides and made him feel sick. He loathed how Phantom Lord had corrupted his mindset into something that remorseless, and now…he was still trying so hard to pick up all the pieces. Yet he would never find them all.

"This tree is nothing more than a dirty reminder- a filthy memory of a crummy man that nailed up an innocent girl and her friends…just to serve as a grisly warning that did no one any good in the end."

Levy gulped and hung her head- that moment had brought on nightmares for weeks, of that she couldn't deny. She turned to Lily, whose round eyes had gone wide at such a realization. She couldn't blame him- Lily had only been around after Gajeel started changing his ways…the only Gajeel he'd ever known was the rough and gruff yet mellow man he respected. But…this…?

"Guess I coulda told ya sooner Lil'," Gajeel spoke at last, his back facing the other two as he leaned his body against the tree, trying to appear as indifferent as possible. "But I didn't need ya thinkin' any less of me. Sorry."

No one knew how to follow up to such a deep statement- Lily was finally able to put the pieces together about why Gajeel had been so guarded on the situation, and it explained more of his weirder habits. He felt inherently awful about so desperately trying to pry it out of him when the Exceed hadn't known it was such a sensitive topic…and part of the reason why it was such a closely guarded secret was because Gajeel didn't want his cat companion looking down on him.

As Lily sat with wide eyes full of stark realization accompanied by a small dose of guilt, Levy was left shaking off her own memories of that event. Gone was the terror-rattled scream from when Gajeel sprung up from out of the shadows in that alley and beat her senseless; it fizzled out of her like dust in the wind, slowly replaced with every thing he'd done to say he was sorry.

Holding no ill will towards Jet and Droy. Protecting her from Laxus' lightning twice, despite his own injuries. Coming back for her on Tenrou and letting her escape to safety. The way his roughly callous hand had felt so comforting with hers slipped into it, even as they faced certain doom. Making it through the Grand Magic Games in one piece and being relieved to tears that he was all right …

She could honestly overlook one frightening night in her life if it meant getting to have all those other wonderful moments, along with whatever else would hopefully come...

"Oi, Shrimp," Gajeel murmured dryly, a ghost of regret on his face as his hand clenched against the tree bark. Levy caught herself smiling sappily to herself, yelping as she snapped out of it and giving the dragon slayer undivided attention. "Tell me something."

"Sure, what?"

"…Why do ya insist on bein' so close to me?"

"…could ask you the same thing," Levy returned in a low tone without missing a beat, and Gajeel arched an eyebrow out of her line of sight. "Not that it's a bad thing, but a gruff and tough guy like you that literally eats nails for breakfast and beats on people for sport…why should you waste time with some dainty flower like me? One would think I'd be boring to be around; too careful, too safely-played, and not nearly exciting enough to warrant your attention…"

Gajeel huffed out his nose as his hands slipped into his pockets, attempting a shrug as he remained leaned up against the tree.

"Yer smart, I woulda assumed you'd pick up on it…"

"Evidently not if I'm still wondering about it," Levy laughed under her breath, which Gajeel naturally picked up on.

"I dunno, I just guess that ya do interest me, that's all," he finally grunted. Levy's eyes popped open with stark curiosity, and even without looking Gajeel had known and chuckled briskly because of it. "Ya got all yer friends, ya have the strength to be an S-Class Wizard, ya know everything there is to know-"

"_That's _an exaggeration."

"Whatever; point is, ya got a bunch of good things always coming yer way and yet ya wanna waste time with the guy's that got nothing going for 'im." His fists clenched in his pockets as his teeth gnashed against each other, not wanting to picture Levy's face now. "I'm…I'm no good. I'm all cold iron compared to someone whose practically sunshine personified…"

Gajeel was able to feel her now intense gaze on his back, her reaction to his words practically palpable. But it was true- so what if she didn't throw herself head first into fights or if she was cautious and careful? Why was she treating those traits like they were a bad thing? His recklessness and stubborn attitude and disregard for many things…it just caused nothing but trouble.

"But Gajeel…haven't I told you before that you've changed?" Levy asked quietly, heaving a gentle sigh. A small smile graced her features as she looked up at him, eyes shining with sincerity in the moonlight. "You say you're bad, you say you deserve nothing good in this life because of it…but you're the one that said it yourself- you're not some heartless bastard."

Gajeel actually twitched in amusement at Levy's mimicking of his vulgar language, but continued his silent sulking as Levy fiddled with a blade of grass, trying not to look at anything in particular.

"That sort of person never would have opened his heart and allowed room to fix things. That sort of person would have never stepped forward and admitted he was wrong. That sort of person is the sort of person I could never forgive."

Levy allowed a fresh grin to break free on her face as she split the blade of grass.

"You're _not_ that sort of person, Gajeel."

He seemed to lurch at her conformation as he quickly hid his face even more from view, not wanting Levy to see anything he didn't want her to. Frankly it just amazed Levy that he honestly hadn't been expecting it. She'd done her best to show him that she moved past everything and recognized his attempts to make amends, but still his troubles continued to weigh him down? Her heart nearly broke at the implications, but before she could delve any deeper Lily piped up, crawling into Levy's lap.

"I agree," the ebony Exceed declared boldly, expression lit up with pride rather than any sort of shame that Gajeel had predicted. "I may not have known you back when all of this happened, but I've been around long enough to certainly see your worth as a person. From my perspective, you've always been a fine man, and no dark past is going to taint that for me."

"…tch…dammit, Lil'," Gajeel grunted, his voice sounding awfully strained as he lifted a hand to wipe his face. "Wish I'da known that sooner…"

"Yeah, same here," Lily retorted with a light smirk. Gajeel grunted again and hung his head, still refusing to say too much on the matter.

"It's _okay_, Gajeel." Levy's words sounded as small as she felt right about then, clutching Lily for personal support. She couldn't stand to see Gajeel like this any longer. "It's…okay to let yourself be happy."

Gajeel maintained the semi-comfortable silence for a while longer before slowly nodding, accepting the proposal. He slid a hand down his face once again before raspingly replying with, "…okay."

A huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders, one that he hadn't entirely been aware had been there to _begin with_, and frankly he felt so much lighter…he'd never say that, of course, but it was like he finally had that quiet permission to finally stop punishing himself…and it was Levy who'd known just what to say.

Somehow, that made it even better.

"It's interesting," Levy hummed absentmindedly, twirling a lock of her blue hair absentmindedly around her finger. "Here I've been trying to encourage you to change…when all this time you already were, and it was me that stayed the same."

"…yer gonna have to elaborate, Shrimp," Gajeel announced after clearing his throat, finally dignifying her by putting his back flush against the trunk so he could look at her properly. "Yer insight's admirable but ya gotta dumb it down fer me a bit."

Levy gasped out a laugh at Gajeel's unwavering bluntness, swallowing her giggles down to instead shake her head.

"I _mean_ that I…I've been trying to make you go too fast with…us. You were going at your own comfortable pace and I tried to rush you…"

Gajeel's eyes widened as he finally dared to look over his shoulder, immediately catching how ashamed Levy looked. With frank abashment, he coughed.

"I…didn't even notice…"

"That doesn't matter, I still tried and I feel awful about it. I'm really sorry Gajeel," Levy's soft voice flowed into his ears. "I knew you weren't ready for anything beyond friendship, and I pushed for it anyway."

"Oi, Shrimp, I already told ya-"

"No, let me finish!" Levy exclaimed sharply, with Gajeel closing his mouth to allow her piece. She sighed and continued on. "I get that you wanted to take things slower since you felt horrible about what you did in the past, but I just wanted to show you that_ I_ had moved past that…the person who did that to me and the man sitting next to me are two completely different people. Always have been, and always will be."

She lightly cursed to herself; she'd been overly direct when she first asked Gajeel out, and he'd been so bamboozled and confused that his yes didn't even feel genuine in hindsight, even if he had grown into accepting the answer. And from there…Levy had let herself get out of control, for her standards anyway.

"I just saw the way Gray was warming up to Juvia, and I saw how enthusiastic Natsu was about Lucy that…maybe I got a little jealous. I wanted to make some progression too…I wanted to move forward."

It was quiet after her abrupt confession, making Levy squirm against the tree and wishing she could vanish within the bark and pretend this never happened.

"Sorry, I-I got carried away; you probably don't wanna hear this anyway! You know what, we should just go back to Fairy Hills and-"

"I dunno why you'd think I'd be upset…I probably needed that push ya gave me, Gajeel grumbled, completely cutting down Levy's panic as he looked off into the distance. "Been trying so hard to make up for my mistakes…was just trying to avoid making the same one more than once."

Levy slightly frowned as she glanced away, fearing what would come next. "Oh…and what mistake would that be?"

Gajeel grew uncomfortably wordless before clenching his teeth, brow furrowed uneasily.

"…letting you down again."

Immediately Levy hitched a sharp gasp, blood rushing to her face as once more she tried to calm herself down. It wasn't that big of a deal by most standards…but now, she finally, finally, finally understood why they had been having such a block.

It wasn't that he wouldn't want to be with her…it was that he felt he couldn't.

"I can't figure you out, Shrimp." Gajeel had beaten her to speaking before Levy could vocalize a response. He subconsciously clenched and unclenched his face, looking everywhere but at her. "Out of all the guys you deserve, what do ya possibly see in me? Cuz I can't seem to find anything…"

Levy whipped her head around and balked at him.

"What?! Don't say that about yourself!" she shrieked, with Gajeel wincing at her high-pitched tone. "You're…_you're amazing_!"

Lily choked on his spit as Gajeel's nearly did the same, his gaze never leaving the short, determined, and admittedly cute woman next to him. Levy was a fantastic shade of red at this point –and straight down to her neck at that- but she didn't appear to be backing down from her stance.

"Y-Yeah…it's true that the way we met…was pretty gruesome. That's undeniable…" She trembled as she met his stare, allowing a tiny smile to spread across her face. "…but you became so much better, even if you haven't realized, and I admire you so much for it!"

Lily less-than-discreetly nudged Gajeel with a knowingly smirk; Gajeel pushed him behind the tree and kept his focus fully on Levy, who was now anxiously tugging on her curled hair.

"You've done something that few people can; you've completely turned your life around Gajeel! You had the strength to become a better person…or maybe, just the strength to embrace your weakness and allow yourself to be who you really are."

The dragon slayer remained quiet, leaving Levy to fiddle with the helm of her dress as she looked on sadly.

"It…kind of hurts to know that you've never been able to see that."

"…hm, guess I should be happy someone was keeping track for me."

Glancing up at the moment revealed Gajeel smirking at her, which naturally threw Levy for a loop and cued a flustered reaction.

"E-Eep! W-Well, I don't pay _that_ much attention-!"

"Well I wouldn't be surprised- I mean, I _am_ quite attractive. It'd be hard to yer eyes off a specimen like me."

"_Okay_," Levy snorted, but at least it got a hearty chuckle out of Gajeel, which drove away a lot of the heaviness of the moment.

"…but I guess I can't say any of that was a lie," Gajeel spoke up again, referring to Levy's little speech with a tight grin. "I _have _changed, and I've still got a bit of changing left to do…even if ya see the best in me, I wanna be able to see it fer myself too…"

His fists tightened and his knuckles popped.

"…before I can even think about some sorta romance, maybe I should master friendship first." He finished, finally relaxing against the tree and folding his large hands behind his head. "I still got a thing or two to learn about not being such a lone wolf…and _maybe_ you could help me with that."

"Oh, I _suppose_ I could," Levy replied with a melodic hum, willing to rise to the challenge. "Maybe we could start with another duet sometime…? I thought we complemented each other quite well tonight."

"Psh, a'course- with _my_ slick licks I can make anyone sound good, gihi."

"That's because they'll always sound better by comparison alone," snorted Lily, making Levy hide her giggle as a vein popped on Gajeel's forehead.

"Oi, _cat_! We were having a moment!"

"I know, and I was simply trying to prevent it from being contaminated with lies."

"Graaaaah! I don't believe this…"

"Don't worry Gajeel- I bet we can write a song that'll impress the pants off of picky Lily over here, no doubt!"

"D-Did you just call me _picky_?!"

Levy felt like she was going to burst with rainbows at this point, involuntarily grinning as Gajeel chortled with gusto next to her as Lily sat floored by her previous comment. Never in a million years could she imagine that she'd reach the point where she'd be laughing alongside someone as unique as Gajeel- that she could sit with him and casually joke around, or share a meaningful conversation… Still, deep in her heart she knew that wasn't _quite_ where she wanted to be, but she was no longer discouraged about it...because Gajeel had shown her that he'd be more than willing to try.

She glanced up at where he was still leaning aloofly against the tree, looking remarkably at peace with himself. Her wide grin simmered into a tiny smile as she gently crept to her feet, planning to sneak a quick kiss to his cheek while he wasn't suspecting it…

…but only ended up futilely hopping up and down like a pogo stick, as she could only get her face up to his shoulder and nowhere near her destination.

She slumped over in defeat as Gajeel finally noticed her and quirked an eyebrow.

"…What're ya doin'?"

"N-Nothing," Levy embarrassedly stammered afterwards, unable to say anything else to defend her case.

Lily rolled his eyes at the display -he wasn't about to let this perfect chance slip!- and promptly sprouted his wings, hoisting Levy into the air just high enough to compensate the distance. A small, silent gasp escaped from Levy as she was suddenly airborne, but after catching Lily's wink she bubbled with confidence and gently leaned forward.

Gajeel's slanted eyes immediately grew large as he felt that soft pressure against his cheek, contrasting greatly with his rough exterior but nonetheless it was a pleasant sensation. Slowly he turned his head around, only to reveal a giddy and giggly pink-faced Levy…and of course Lily was wearing a broad smirk over her shoulder. However, Levy's face fell a bit at the sight of Gajeel's balking expression, and Lily lowered her back to the ground.

"U-Um, sorry," she mumbled, tugging at her dress sleeves. "I-I just wanted to show you grateful I was but I guess I went too-"

Levy paused when Gajeel's large hand plopped down on her head, ruffling her hair in an affectionate manner. She blinked in surprise before looking up at him, the ghost of a truly pleased smile teasing his lips.

"As long as yer happy, Shrimp…there's really nothing to complain about."

Levy let a coy smirk slip onto her face as Gajeel slid down the length of the tree, with the Solid Script Mage moving to sit next to him. Feeling that his services were no longer needed, Lily glided up into the branches of the tree to take a well-deserved rest while they finished out their moment. As Levy proceeded to lean on the much more solid Gajeel for support with no signs of protest, she resisted the urge to brush her fingers along her lips, as they were still tingling, instead choosing to slide a rather coy look towards the dragon slayer.

"Hm, if _that's_ the case…" Levy's smile was contagious at this point, unable to reign in her joy as his words buzzed in her head. "…then, do I smell like sunflowers?"

The ends of Gajeel's lips pulled into a genuine smile, draping his arm over her petite shoulders and gifting her with the quickest, yet most meaningful, of winks.

"You betcha."


	21. And Fires Burn Brightest Under Starlight

**So close to the end...the next chapter's the last one... *is excited and sad at the same time***

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 21: And Fires Burn Brightest Under Starlight~

To anyone fortunate enough to be passing by Strawberry Street that late night, they would have been more than inclined to spot what looked like a cute couple traipsing down the sidewalk. They walked hand in hand, the boy wearing a smile that showed he didn't have a care in the world, with a drunk cat draped over one of his shoulders, and the girl at his side simply doing her best to stay in step with him.

Of course, Lucy was only thinking these thoughts considering how self-conscious she was. Natsu, at some point, had casually grabbed her hand, and their finger-locked embrace was now gently swinging to and fro with every step they took. It wasn't just him grasping her palm and tugging her along either- no, he intertwined his fingers with hers, and every once in a while she would feel him carefully tighten his hold on her, as though the thought of letting go was dangerous.

She thanked the stars that Happy was passed out, or else she never would've heard the end of it from him.

But she still couldn't help sneaking a few glances at the inexplicably humming Natsu.

He looked so _happy_; she'd never seen him so content and relaxed, especially after all that had gone down. His lips were teasing a ghost of a smirk, his eyes seemed to glow with contentment, and even his steps had a bit of a bounce to them, almost matching the beat of the tune he hummed.

You never would have guessed he could barely even move no more than a few hours ago.

Lucy didn't want to break his placid concentration, so she stayed quiet and let him have his little moment. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable or anything –quite the opposite- but even if things weren't awkward between the two of them, there were many things that had gone unspoken, and with Natsu she didn't even know how to begin to talk about it! It reminded her of how she felt when she attempted to ask Aquarius for help with her date…

With it on her mind, Lucy thumbed through her keys until she reached the one belonging to the Water Bearer's, admiring it wistfully as she perched it in the hand that wasn't currently captured in Natsu's. Thinking of Aquarius reminded Lucy of the advice that the spirit had given her, and even now she couldn't believe that Aquarius had been shy around Scorpio like they claimed!

"_Aquarius was practically my best friend, and while I thought about getting together with her often, I always pushed it away, not wanting to risk the friendship we had."_

Lucy could easily understand where Scorpio was coming from though- once upon a time she had been inexplicably smitten with Natsu, simply because it was hard to _not_ be charmed by him when he was _always_ hanging around and filling her days with smiles and laughter and seven degrees of reckless abandon, plus a certain sense of freedom that she'd never gotten to experience before…along with attention and affection that she'd been so deprived of…how could she _not_ love him for that?

But she reasoned with herself that she was going far too fast, and besides, Natsu never appeared to show any interest in that respect. Sure he appreciated her as a friend, but he never really looked at her as anything more than that. Even times when he said things that made her heart beat at a million miles a minute and pump the blood straight to her cheeks, there was never really any underlying emotions behind his actions…so it was probably better to keep their relationship platonic, if only to avoid catastrophe and heartbreak.

"I really can't see Aquarius being the insecure type either," Lucy thought to herself, continuing to stare at her key. "…she's always so bold, confident, and sometimes a little too brash; someone like her…imagining her wavering in the face of something like love is so hard to imagine…"

"_I...admit I didn't realize what my feelings were for the longest time, but once I finally did, I felt like I had to get your attention somehow..."_

But lo and behold, even Aquarius hadn't been above it all.

"…although, like Scorpio said, love makes us do crazy things…"

"_I...sort of tested out boundaries. We hung out often enough...but...I figured...that maybe if we turned one of our outings into something a little bit more, I had hoped it would be a nudge in the right direction."_

Lucy then felt her heart drop into her stomach as that thought crossed her mind- that sounded…way too familiar…

_"He went to aaaaaall the trouble of making this date work, and you don't even see it as such! He wasn't trying to push you into anything, but he didn't know how to tell you that he wanted to try something romantic for once, so he just went along with the idea that you're just here 'as friends' so you wouldn't freak out again!"  
_  
Eventually, after Lucy had been remarkably quiet for a very long time, it dawned on Natsu that Lucy wasn't on the same wavelength he was, especially with the way her face was pulled into a puzzled grimace. He nudged her shoulder with his as they walked and raised an eyebrow.

"What's the matter, Lucy?"

Curse him for being able to read her so well.

"I'm fine, really…" she dismissed with a hollow laugh, trying to clear her head of her heavy contemplations. "I guess I'm still trying to take in all that went down tonight. Between the attack and everything else, I'm more shaken up than I thought I'd be…"

"Eh, don't be. That group of lunatics ain't worth even a moment of your thoughts," Natsu scoffed gruffly. "You can't let it get to you, okay?"

"Okay…although I don't know what we would've done if Erza hadn't been there."

"Hmph! If that coward hadn't shot a billion darts into me, I could have taken them _all _on!"

Lucy smirked in spite of herself. "Somehow I don't doubt that."

"Damn straight," Natsu declared, giving her hand another squeeze afterward. "But you have to give yourself some credit too. You were amazing back there, Lucy! If it wasn't for you, there's no way we would've won!"

Lucy's cheeks pinked from such a straight-forward compliment, daring to roll her gaze up to properly meet his. She stopped walking and got a better look at him- he exuded nothing but friendly confidence, and with that light-hearted smile Lucy knew his words were absolutely genuine.

"…um, Natsu?"

"Yeah?" He responded a bit more eagerly than expected.

"…we're at my house."

"Oh."

Natsu's enthusiasm deflated like a balloon as Lucy gave him a sympathetic smile, knowing that he probably didn't want things to end quite so soon. This was proven when she started climbing up the stairs, as Natsu's hand was still firmly gripped into hers. Lucy tugged a little, but he refused to let go.

"…wait, please don't leave me yet." The words tumbled out of him near inaudibly, making Lucy go rigid at the sudden soft-spoken tone. She turned over her shoulder to face him; she was met with wide eyes and a grin, but somehow it was much more hesitant. "Yeah…I got stuff to say first."

"O-Okay," Lucy conceded, stepping back down to be next to him. "What…what's on your mind?"

Natsu shuffled uncomfortably in place, making Lucy tilt her head perplexedly. What in the world could put Natsu in a state like this?

"Well…you remember Cana's prediction, right?"

"Yes…that six people had some sort of romantic development coming their way of something crazily along those lines," Lucy nodded slowly with a frown. She sort of wished she could forget, considering something so small had been blown so ridiculously out of hand. "It…wasn't necessarily _us_ though, right?"

"But there was a second prediction, and Cana was only able to identify five of the six," Natsu explained, letting his gaze fall to the ground. "You were indeed one of 'em, but I…wasn't. Whoever you were paired up with wasn't revealed because I sorta interrupted it. Which means you had nothing to worry about tonight regarding the prediction in the first place, because I wasn't involved with it at all…"

Lucy felt a huge weight being lifted off her shoulders- she _knew_ Cana's prediction wasn't wholly set in stone! Loke had been right too- she controlled her own destiny, which she'd always known, but she was just so relieved that this date wasn't going to change anything between them simply because of the six of hearts…

"Thought you might like that news," Natsu murmured under his breath as he saw the celebratory look light up Lucy's face, attempting to match it with his own smile, but it didn't even come close. Lucy snapped out of her reassured trance and turned to Natsu, giving him a slight frown.

"Wait, why didn't you just mention any of this before? I could've…I would've…"

"Because you panicked just from me asking you out! No way was I gonna risk going through _that_ again…"

"Oh," Lucy hitched in a single breath, eyes going wide as she made the connection. "Then that means…you really _didn't _make this a date because of the prediction! Oh God, Natsu-!"

"…I wanted to use my reward for a date even before I knew about the prediction." His face hardened as he clutched her hand once again. "I honestly had no idea of it at all when I asked you-"

"And th-that's why you were so upset afterwards!" Lucy suddenly screeched, her free hand flying to cover up her gaping mouth, yet it couldn't hide the shame in her eyes. Natsu tsked at her and stuck out his tongue.

"Oi, s'not like I was crying or anything, I was just…kinda confused?" He nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I made you uncomfortable and I didn't know how to fix it."

Lucy relaxed, but still was visibly filled with guilt. "But it wasn't your fault…"

"But it was gonna happen anyway!" Natsu yelped, rapidly losing his composure, and that put Lucy herself on edge. "Like I said, I've never been on a date before, and I couldn't bring myself to ask anyone but you…but then you didn't think of it like that, so I just…went with it…"

Just when Natsu assumed he'd get a less-than-pleasant remark out of Lucy, she instead rammed into his side and pulled him in for a hug, smiling into the embrace and holding him tightly. He heard her giggle lightly under her breath, and he was thankful at the fact that she wasn't somehow upset with him.

"Natsu, you're too nice to me…you did so much just to keep me happy…" Lucy piped up quietly, her smile reaching all the way up to her eyes. "You always know what to do to cheer me up, and I don't tell you enough how much I appreciate it."

"Well, you know, I try," Natsu shrugged nonchalantly, unable to keep the fat grin off his face. "I toldja your laughter is one of my favorite things about ya."

It was his turn to laugh this time, but Lucy didn't join, her face taking on a look of realization and shame. She subconsciously clutched at his jacket, biting her lip as she couldn't believe she'd been so stupid. Natsu was trying to casually play it all off, but the truth had been put out there- he'd asked her out on a genuine date. He might not have been the smoothest about it, but the intent was still there, and she'd just shrugged it off.

That _wasn't_ how you were supposed to go about it. Natsu _wasn't_ the type of guy to care about those things.

But she was so _wrong_.

Natsu might not have been some perfect knight in shining armor that matched her warped fairy tale perceptions of love and romance, but he treated her so much better than some princely knight ever could. He might not have been everything she'd always wanted…but there was something about him that she needed; something that she'd noticed, but never could really ever place…

She had been so wrong about him this whole entire time….

It wasn't him that was utterly clueless…

It was _her_.

"I'm so dumb…" she whispered in spite of herself, and of course Natsu had heard. She wasn't surprised when he suddenly pulled her off of him to stare her fiercely in the eye, but she glanced away before he could. That only made him growl.

"You're _not_ dumb Lucy- why did you just say that?" he demanded sternly, hurt and concern palpable in his gaze.

"Because…you know…why I was really afraid of the prediction?" Lucy asked quietly as her shoulders shook in his grip, glancing up at Natsu. A spark of confusion darted across his features, but he remained silent. "It's because…I was afraid…you and I were one of the pairs."

Natsu turned a ghostly shade of white. "…oh."

"Oh _snap_!" wailed Happy, suddenly springing back to life on Natsu's shoulder at this highly inopportune time. Natsu shot him a look before turning back to Lucy, watching the way she kept fidgeting.

"…yeah, and it's only now do I realize why that was." Lucy tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before nervously tugging at a wrinkle in her dress. "Natsu, I care about you more than I think I've ever cared about anyone…and in such a different way too. But I've never felt this way about anyone before…and it's not…that I wouldn't want to be with you, but…I don't entirely know if that's what I want _right now_."

_"Just...beat to your own rhythm and do what you think is right when the time comes."_

Aquarius' final piece of advice filled Lucy's mind, making Lucy clench her fists in an attempt to reassure herself. Just as the Water Bearer had said, she would know when she was ready to take a new step, and she shouldn't let people's expectations persuade her. Only she had the power to know what to do with her life; it was her rhythm and she was going to move to it.

Lucy bit her lip and struggled to keep eye contact with Natsu- he had on a poker face, leaving it impossible to tell how he was feeling about any of this, and yet he didn't protest. Guilt was eating away at her from the inside out, having to reject him like this, but she couldn't lie to herself either. Attempting anything that she wasn't ready for would only bring them both down, and she would never want to hurt Natsu, especially not in that way.

"It has nothing to do with you…it's all on me; I'm a mess and I need to sort myself out before letting someone else get tangled up in it... I just hate the fact that I didn't think of this as a date while you did…" His silence was driving stakes of regret deeper into her heart, and she couldn't even keep her head up any more. "I really did take your feelings for granted…I'm so sorry and there's no excuse for it and you're probably really mad at me now-"

"Mweh? Why would I be mad at you?!" His stoic façade broke as he intervened, almost looking more hurt from the accusation than the rejection he was receiving. "You don't wanna be anything more than friends right now. S'okay, the world ain't ending…don't worry about it."

Lucy squeaked in surprise at Natsu's blatant dismissal of her actions, daring to face him once again. One hand was slipped nonchalantly into his pocket with the other running through his hair. His face was puckered like he was carefully choosing his words, but he didn't appear upset. Soon enough he turned back to Lucy with a light smile on his face and shimmering eyes.

"…look, a lot of crazy stuff happened tonight. First dates are already tricky enough, but tonight…was really off the wall. Even if we weren't attacked, the two of us weren't exactly one on one, we were still only there because of a reward, and clearly neither of us were on the same page." Lucy frowned a little at his words, though perked up when he slung an arm over her shoulders. "So, we'll say that this was…just sort of a test that won't count. In the end we're still friends, and there doesn't have to be anything weird between us."

"Oh, Natsu-"

He silenced her lips with his finger as he cracked another grin.

"But _maybe_, when we have some down time and some extra jewel…we can try again, if you'd like. You know, when you think _you_ are ready for it. It won't have to be anything fancy; it can be small, I wouldn't mind," he beamed. "But you'll always be my best friend Lucy, no matter if we're in different guilds or across the world or dating or married or if we die or become mortal enemies or get launched into space-!"

"Natsu."

"-or even if things _do_ get a tad awkward, that fact will remain the same," he finished proudly. "I wouldn't let your confusion or my…curiosity ruin any of that. Not after I went to the trouble of yanking you into my life."

Lucy gasped out a laugh and playfully hit him; Natsu was just glad neither of them were feeling crappy anymore.

"…when did you get so smart about these things?" Lucy asked gently, wiping at her eyes as she smiled broadly. She felt him shrug his shoulders.

"I dunno, I'm just listening to my gut…I suppose that means all my smarts are in my stomach."

Lucy snorted and rolled her eyes. "That definitely gives a whole new meaning to 'brain food' when it comes to you."

Natsu mockingly made a face as Happy erupted into hysterics, while Lucy toyed with her dress again before finally allowing her gaze to rest on Natsu once more.

"…but I really did have fun tonight," Lucy admitted quickly and bashfully, gripping at her arms. "…and I don't think I'd mind doing it again sometime either."

Natsu blinked with astonishment, until his grin reached all the way to his ears and forced his eyes shut.

"Yosh, all right!" he cheered, making Lucy spiritedly laugh as he threw his arms into the air. "I'mma hold you to it, Lucy, so don't make me wait too long!"

"I promise I won't," Lucy assured, never one to break her assurances. "Just give me some time to think things through a little more, and I'll take you up on your offer."

Natsu nodded eagerly, both of them laughing one more time as they began to feel the conversation dying down. Their inevitable departure had arrived quickly, and a chilly breeze drifting through reminded Lucy that she was still half exposed in an evening gown. Her teeth chattering and goosebumps rising on her skin, Lucy flashed Natsu a final smile and decided to be the one to make to move leave before things got too awkward.

She had barely taken a step when she heard Natsu sharply intake a breath, halting Lucy in her tracks with a call of her name.

"Um, before you leave…?" He sounded remarkably nervous, and was even poking his fingers together. Lucy raised an eyebrow at this odd behavior- Natsu wasn't normally one to get rattled like this. "I was just _wondering_…if, um…I could…?"

"Huh…?" both Lucy and Happy churned out at the same time, with Lucy shaking it off and tilting her head in confusion. "What is it Natsu?"

"Erm…C-Can I…Can I-I…?"

"Out with it, Natsu."

Natsu swallowed harshly before curling his fists at his sides, shaking uncontrollably with an incredibly flustered look. If it wasn't so out of character for Natsu, Lucy would've been amused.

"…can I kiss you?!"

Ugh, he was _so_ not experienced with things like this, and the way Lucy shrieked before slamming her hands over her mouth wasn't exactly the best of signs- nor was Happy's high-pitched screeching from the sidelines. He could feel himself turning red up to his ears from the response alone.

"I-I just meant on the cheek! I-Isn't that what people do after dates?!" Already thoroughly embarrassed, Natsu turned his head to the side and tried to finish the rest of his thought. "I just, gah, I feel like I gotta do _something_ now, but I figured I should ask cuz I didn't want you to get mad again, b-but I'm sorry I did ask I dunno what I was thinking don't hate me I-I'll just-"

His stuttered words passed away as Lucy abruptly kissed away his response, her soft lips melding gently and perfectly against his own. Happy floated off to the side with his paws over his gaping mouth, trying his best to keep his jaw from falling to the ground again. The kiss wasn't anything dramatic nor just a simple smooch- it was rather short, but Lucy lingered long enough to make Natsu's eyes pop open before tenderly pulling away with a shy smile and a shrug. As briefly as it had lasted, there was no denying that both of them felt the spark.

Natsu was rooted to the spot by shock alone, face as pink as his hair and barely able to keep himself together when his fingers brushed against his lips as though to ensure that the sensation had indeed been real. Somehow it only made him blush harder.

"L-L-L-Lucy, you didn't have to-! I-I was just gonna-!"

"Wow, you haven't stammered like that since you were a kid," Happy hummed unhelpfully, making Natsu puff smoke out his nose as he buried his face into his scarf.

"Sh-Shut up!"

He was clearly about to break off into an angry tangent until he felt Lucy's hand land on what was exposed of his cheek, making his eyes grow wider as she winked at him.

"Well, you _did_ ask nicely~"

Natsu desperately tried to scrounge up some flimsy defense to that, but Lucy shook her head to stop him and replied with her real answer.

"C'mon Natsu- we both know that you deserved_ way_ more than just a kiss on the cheek for everything you've done." She lightly giggled before beaming up at him softly. "…thank you, Natsu. From the bottom of my heart."

Natsu could only muster a nod at this point, left in a wordless splendor as Lucy sashayed back up her stairs. She put her hand on the doorknob, pausing halfway through opening it to glance back at Natsu, who was patiently waiting right where she left him for her to get home one hundred percent safely.

"Good night for real this time, Natsu," she hummed softly, with Natsu doing the opposite and bidding her goodbye in the most ostentatious way possible. He finally seemed to snap out of his sappy daze to spin on his heel and give her a two-fingered salute, proudly wearing a face-splitting grin and speaking with full enthusiasm.

"G'night, Luce!"

She shook her head at him one more time before vanishing beyond the door, Natsu not satisfied until he heard a 'click' afterwards. Releasing a sigh he hadn't realized he'd been holding, Natsu headed in the direction of his house, contemplating his circumstances along the way. However, he'd been so lost in his thoughts that it took him a while to catch Happy floating over his shoulder wearing the smuggest look _ever_.

"Whaaaaaat?" Natsu finally whined out, knowing that there was no way the sobering up Happy was going to drop whatever was on his mind. The Exceed's cheeks puffed out as he covered his mouth with his paws, desperately trying not to burst out laughing.

"You two liiiiike each other!"

"…so?" Natsu murmured under his breath. "Lucy doesn't wanna be anything other than just friends right now, and I'm okay with that. It's not like I expected anything different…"

Despite the teasing, Happy did sympathize for his friend. He alighted himself onto Natsu's shoulder and tried to comfortingly pat him on the head. Natsu merely 'tched' at the action, but didn't really protest either.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that! That was probably the best rejection I've ever seen!"

"Sh-shut up! That's wasn't a _rejection_! Despite everything, Lucy promised we'd have a second date, didn't she?! And I have no reason to doubt her words!" Fire instantly billowed around the dragon slayer, as if to help emphasize his point. "Even if today didn't go so well, I still have a shot! So joke's on you- there's hope for me an' Lucy in the future! HA!"

Instead of the look of defeat Natsu expected Happy to have, the cat instead looked dangerously smug as he winked and simpered at the dragon slayer.

"_Exactly."_

As Natsu's flames abruptly went out and froze in mid-stride looking like he'd just been struck by lightning, Happy started elbowing him in the shoulder.

"I mean, so what if you didn't magically get the girl? Just because it didn't happen tonight, doesn't mean it never will!" Happy declared, his tone sounding much more chipper. "Besides, you should be _soooo_ happy right now! You got a kiss from her, man! To you, that's gotta be like the equivalent of a ton of fish!"

"I…did…?" Natsu's face scrunched up in confusion, then went blank with stark realization, then lit up with his smile filling up half his expression. "I-I did! _I did_!"

Happy gaped as Natsu started running around in excited circles, never looking merrier as disbelieving but pleased laughter escaped him.

"I got to kiss Lucy Heartfilia! Ahahaha!" he whooped, cheerful sparks of flame bursting all around him like fireworks. "_YOSH!"_

And as Natsu released loud joyous hollers into the night, throwing his arms up and practically clicking his heels together as he skipped down the street, he had no clue that the girl that made him act that way was currently watching his ecstatic dance from her window…and blushing the whole time.


	22. The Ramifications of This Are Intriguing

**So, here it finally is...the last chapter of my very first contribution to Fairy Tail! Normally I would have something a little more heartfelt to say, but I can't find my words right now, other than to thank you _all_ for your constant support, and helping me make this into a project I'll remember fondly for years to come. :')**

* * *

.:The Six of Hearts:.

~Act 22: The Ramifications of This Are Intriguing~

"Cana, what exactly happened here?!"

Cana nonchalantly frowned as she drummed her fingers against her half-empty bottle of Honey Brandy that Saturday morning, knowing that she should've expected to be surrounded before her breakfast beverage was finished. However, the conversation topic wasn't necessarily about her- it encompassed the four that were currently sitting up at Mirajane's bar. Gray, Juvia, and Levy were enjoying the milkshakes that Gajeel had mysteriously bought for them all, having paid for six total.

While both pairs were talking leisurely and appeared much more at ease that they had in the days before…neither side seemed to be acting even the slightest bit romantic.

Apparently a large handful of guild members were struck confused by this, hence why they were trying to hit up Cana for the answers. But Cana ignored them, big brown eyes carefully observing the twin duos lightly conversing with genuine smiles spread across their faces. Eventually Cana's own face broke out into a smirk, lifting her bottle of Honey Brandy to her lips and indulging in a sip.

"…I don't know what you're all talking about. Everything happened just as my fortune reading foretold," she hummed afterward, wiping her lips dry with the back of her hand. She then slipped the six of hearts out of her pocket and twirled it coyly between her fingers. "I predicted that six people were in for romance in one way or another…yet I never said anything about anyone getting together."

"What?!" demanded Wakaba, his jaw dropping so far open that his pipe slipped out. "But…you implied…!"

"You had us thinking this whole time that…!" Macao slammed his hands on the table in firm disbelief. "Ugh, all my bet money's gone to waste…!"

"But if you think about it, it makes sense," Kinana interrupted as she sashayed over with two trays of snacks for the group. "Just because someone has a romantic moment doesn't mean it'll instantly lead to something greater. Sometimes those things just…happen, kina. We didn't even know who the sixth person was!"

"I'm pretty sure the sixth person was exactly who it should have been…" Cana mused to herself, twirling the card between her fingers.

"But what about my wedding plans for everyone?!" wailed Mirajane from the bar, making everyone within earshot groan- except Juvia who inexplicably started dancing gleefully in her chair.

"…on a little less extreme note, are you trying to say that there's no hope in any of them getting together?" Laki questioned while adjusting her glasses, but Cana shook her head.

"It's not that _nothing_ will ever happen…it just might not be as soon as everyone wants." She took another hefty chug of her wine. "Besides, where's the worth in a relationship if it blooms overnight? Some may happen faster than others, but…isn't part of intrigue watching it develop too?"

She embraced the silence that followed after, letting her little pearls of wisdom sink into their heads.

"So much for getting my bet money today…" sighed Laki, with Macao and Wakaba grumbling in agreement shortly after. She folded her arms behind her head and shrugged. "…but at least there's still hope that something will happen someday…"

"And if you think about it…" Makarov murmured, sitting shamelessly on the middle of the table looking deep in thought as always. "Everyone did make their choices of their own accord, knowledge of the prediction or not…Cana's fortune merely provided a suggestion of things to come."

Cana smiled thankfully at the Master for alleviating her of her fears, letting her softened gaze fall onto the six of hearts again, amazing at the strange turn of events it happened to incite-

"Oh, so_ that's_ where my missing card went. I shouldn't be so surprised that it ended up in _your_ hands, Cana."

Cana froze as she felt an imposing figuring towering behind her, although it didn't take her long to figure out who it was when Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow immediately burst into cheers.

"Laxus! You're back from your solo mission already? Quick work m'boy," Makarov remarked, to which Laxus just shrugged indifferently.

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad…" He folded his arms as his jacket flared out behind him like a cape. "And I brought my playing cards to have a little entertainment to kill the extra time…but my deck was _incomplete_."

Laxus' voice was thick with implication; Cana's face soured on the spot as she whirled around and gave the dragon slayer a fierce look.

"Oi, don't act like was _my_ fault you left your stuff lying around!" She flashed the six of hearts out to him with a scoff. "Besides, you should be _thanking _me for taking proper care of it! Buying me a few rounds of beer will suffice."

"Tch, s'not like you could do much with the six of hearts anyway…" Laxus grumbled, plucking said card back into his possession and ignoring Cana's attempt at getting her hands on free alcohol. He waltzed away with the rest of his team in tow, leaving Cana to snicker as she wrapped her fingers around the glass of her wine bottle.

"You'd be surprised, Laxus," Cana teased, finishing off her Honey Brandy in one satisfying gulp. "…you'd be surprised."

. . .

"Good morning, everyone!"

Spirit seemed to fill the guild hall as Lucy made her grand entrance, greeting everyone with a bright smile as she received her usual throng of hellos. She wasn't sure of where to go first until Juvia whistled at her, followed by Gray and Levy frantically waving her over. Lucy beamed at them as she hurried towards them, only to be pleasantly startled when Mirajane suddenly thrust a frosty vanilla milkshake at her before she even had a chance to sit down.

"O-Oh Mira, no, I can't afford this at the-"

"S'on me Bunny Girl," Gajeel coughed on the other side of her, leaning his chin on his fist and trying to appear as uninterested as possible- much to a giggling Levy's enjoyment. "Unlike Salamander, I follow through when bets are made, though that clown prolly forgot all about it…"

"I see," Lucy chirped in surprise, taking a sip after seeing that she wasn't the only one to get one. "In that case, thank you, Gajeel."

"Don't mention it."

Levy tittered behind her dainty hand as even Juvia smirked when Gray rolled his eyes, and while the actions were innocent it sort of made Lucy feel a little left out. It seemed that everyone was doing fine and getting along really well after last night's outing…

Lucy remained silent as her gaze fell onto Gray, who had returned to discussing something with Juvia and drawing invisible lines and squiggles into the air. Lucy couldn't make heads or tails of it, but Juvia was enthralled anyway, her eyes lighting up with interest and able to carry the conversation beautifully without falling into a daydream relapse. Like ice and water, they were really clicking with each other, until they were interrupted by Wendy, who couldn't resist popping up next to Gray.

"I'm so sorry to barge in like this, but I just had to know if you were doing all right!" Wendy exclaimed nervously, dropping into a bow of apology.

"Goodness child, you could have at _least_ waited until they were finished conversing," scoffed Carla on her shoulder, making Wendy wince with regret. Gray set down his extra cold milkshake and chuckled before proceeding to ruffle Wendy's hair.

"Eh, it's no sweat- I can imagine how worried you must've been, not that you should have since you did amazing work healing up my wound. It doesn't even hurt anymore." Wendy brought her head back up and beamed in relief, widening Gray's smile too. "And hey, you're not sounding too bad yourself!"

"Ahahaha, guess I'm a quick healer any way you look at it…!"

She and Gray snickered to themselves as Carla groaned, murmuring something about Wendy spending too much time with Natsu. Wendy then caught Juvia smiling at the lighthearted moment with her cheeks colored a gentle pink, cuing the dragon slayer to lightly nudge Gray. Gray instantly glanced down at the half-knowing, half-coy look she now sported.

"I told you it was okay that somebody loves you," she whispered at him, grinning and winking afterward. A brisk laugh escape from Gray, bringing his gaze back up to Juvia, the two of them making soft eye contact. Juvia gulped and shyly waved; he snickered and saluted back.

"…yeah," Gray finally conceded, reaching for his smoothie once more. "…it'll be okay."

Juvia happily sighed as Gray and Wendy continued to talk, not that she minded falling out of the conversation- her heart was already bursting enough at the sight of Gray in a good mood. She was about to swoon over how blissful he looked when she suddenly felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

The Water Mage immediately shifted in her seat, as Erza somehow always had an air of authority about her no matter what she did, even without saying a word. But Erza lightly chortled at Juvia's reaction and consciously tried not to be so intimidating.

"I see things are looking up for you two," Erza remarked warmly. "I'm happy the date ended on a smooth note- congrats on the progress."

"Thank you; it's really not all that much of a change, but…" Juvia slammed her hands on her cheeks as she failed at repressing an eager shriek. "…it means so much to Juvia! The days are so much brighter now!"

"It hasn't been quite that long, but I admire your enthusiasm." The redhead then put her hands on her lips as she slightly smirked. "But yes, the days are definitely brighter, especially considering that the threat of Black Thorn has more or less been quelled. I've spoken with Master about everything that went down last night- he requested an audience with the Magic Council to discuss matters, but considering that they now have four members in their possession, they may be able to determine the guild's location."

Juvia burst into a grin and clasped her hands together. "That means no more assassins, no more revenge plots, and much more time with Gray-sama!"

"…ooh, I'm just so proud of you both!" Erza suddenly cried, pulling Juvia and Gray into a hug and clunking both their heads against her breastplate.

"Ow. Juvia is in pain." "Oi, Erza, what was that for-?!"

Lucy giggled as Juvia began babbling about a fantasy, Gray was blushing from embarrassment, Erza had the grin of a school girl plastered on her face, and Wendy held Carla close as she laughed along too. However, Lucy's attention was pulled away from them when a loud shout of "LEVY!" rang through the air as Jet and Droy scrambled up to the resident bookworm. Levy welcomed their presence while Gajeel hastily turned his head to the side and sucked loudly on his milkshake.

"Good morning, guys! What's up?"

"What's up? What's up?! ARE YOU OKAY?!" Jet exclaimed frantically, eliciting a loud groan from Gajeel. Levy rolled her eyes with a grin and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine! What would ever make you think that I wasn't?"

"Tch, brainwashed," Jet whispered to Droy, but Droy waved it off and shook his head.

"He means that you didn't really discuss any details about your date-" A look was shot over at Gajeel. It was promptly ignored. "So we were a little concerned that everything didn't go as planned."

Levy opened her mouth to go into heavily elaborate detail about just how her night went, but after catching the uncertain expression Gajeel wore out of the corner of her eye, she relaxed a little and simply gave off a quick chuckle.

"…let's just say it really cleared our heads a little," Levy finalized with a teasing tone and a wink. "And I've personally never felt better!"

She turned towards Gajeel, only to find him smirking to himself. The sight made her burst into a fresh batch of giggles, and seeing that she was indeed as fine as she claimed, Jet and Droy sighed and traded a contented look. They were happy if Levy was happy, and even Lily was muscling in on this, sliding into Gajeel's lap and knowingly nudging the dragon slayer.

"I can say with full confidence that those two definitely make beautiful music together," he tittered, expertly dodging a swat from Gajeel.

"Oi, no one asked you, cat!"

"Just telling it like it is," Lily scoffed, just as Levy's eyes lit up in realization.

"Oh, Lily just reminded me!" She giddily turned in her chair to completely face Gajeel. "We are still on for our collab, aren't we? Can we get to work on it right now?!"

"Tch, _somebody's_ eager," Gajeel murmured through a sip of his smoothie, eliciting a blush from Levy. "But do ya really wanna start so soon?"

"Yes!" Levy cried ecstatically before reigned herself in, smoothing out her hair and dress afterwards. "I-I mean, only if you're not busy or anything. I'm sure your schedule's pretty packed-"

"Not really," Gajeel deadpanned with a shrug. "But I suppose I could find a way to pencil ya in somewhere-"

Levy fumed at his nonchalant behavior but couldn't keep the smile off her face. Of course, having watched the whole thing, Juvia proceeded to tug on Gray's shirt –except that it was gone, so she poked him instead- and pulled his attention from Wendy.

"Gray-sama, can we do what we talked about too?" she asked with hopeful eyes, with Gray blinking and scratching the back of his head. "Surely you're not too busy either?"

"Well, I mean, I did have a_ little_ art session planned today- "Juvia squealed. "-and I guess I could get a jump on start on your project if you-"

"That's wonderful!" cheered Juvia, but clamped her hands over her mouth afterward. "Uh, sorry, didn't meant to interrupt! But I'm so excited to see my darling Gray work with his passion as soon as possible!"

'You mean right now?!"

"Gray, your clothes," Erza chided sharply, reference to his now lack of pants.

"DAMMIT!"

Levy was the first to take advantage of the uproar, hopping out of her seat and placing her hands on Gajeel's arm. When he finally looked at her, she had a determined grin plastered across her face.

"They've got the right idea, Gajeel- we're burning daylight over here!"

"It's not even _ten_ yet! Yeesh, ya ask a guy out one time and suddenly yer bolder than sharp cheddar cheese…"

"And it's phrases like that that prove why you need her to write a half-decent song," Lily intervened shamelessly, making Gajeel pop a vein on his forehead.

"Oi! No I don't!"

"Nah, he's got you there Iron Man," Gray scoffed, subconsciously tugging at his boxers. His dignity was only saved by the distressed squeal of Wendy and the smack on his hand by Erza. However, his biggest problem was now Gajeel, as the two of them once again rammed heads right over where Lucy was sitting, making the blonde sigh in defeat.

"Here we go again…"

"I'm getting _real_ tired of ya taking down about my music ya stripping perv! I bet you don't even have an artistic bone in your frigid body!"

"Please! I've probably got more creativity in my little finger than you do in your whole metal head!"

"No way! Twenty jewel says the Shrimp and I can write a song that'll blow yer pants off! Or should I say, keep yer pants _on_?!"

"Graaaah! _Fifty_ jewel says that I can paint a picture of Juvia that'll make your piercings pop out!"

"I'd love to see you try," Gajeel snorted, but Gray retaliated with a fierce smirk.

"Hey, at least it'll be _my_ picture. We all know you're just going to mooch off Levy's way with words."

"OI! I am going to bring her words to life with my guitar!"

"Ja, and I'll bring Juvia's _entire essence_ to life with my paints!"

"Gray-sama!" Juvia shrieked as Levy shook her head behind the dragon slayer.

"Oh I should have seen this coming…" Levy groaned, and yet a smirk took over her face. "…but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little pumped up! Gajeel and I are going to whip up the best song you've ever heard!"

"GO LEVY!" cheered Jet and Droy in the background, jumping straight into their cheering routine. Juvia looked around nervously before clenching her fists and holding them to her chest.

"W-well, Juvia will be the best model Gray-sama has ever had!"

Gray sweat dropped. "You'd be the only model I've ever had."

"Even better! Let's go, my darling!"

"You heard her!" declared Levy with a fist pump. "Let's get moving!"

"Guys, do you _really _have to do this now?" Lucy asked meekly, but it went unheard as Gray and Gajeel slammed their heads together a final time and leered challengingly at each other.

"IT'S ON!"

Lucy only had time to blink as Levy whisked Gajeel in one direction while Juvia pulled Gray in another, Gajeel smirking down at Levy while Gray was winking at Juvia. All four of them scrambled away with enthusiastic gusto, spirited laughs filling the guild as they took off. Lucy felt her lips droop into a frown as she began to stare at her lap; she was happy that her friends were on greater terms with each other now, but…

But…

But…

She sighed deeply; she was hopeless.

"…oh, what seems to have you so down, Lucy?"

Lucy brought her head back up to find Lisanna staring curiously at her from behind the counter, the milkshake meant for Natsu balancing perfectly on her silver tray. However, she set it down and came around to the other side to sit next to Lucy, despite the fact Lucy aattempted to wave her off.

"…it's nothing," the Celestial Wizard tried to insist, but Lisanna wasn't having any of that. She twisted in her seat and gave Lucy a firm look.

"Now, don't lie to me, Lucy. Did something go wrong between you and Natsu?"

"NO! No, not at all," Lucy was quick to establish, her eyes shining as she thought back to the previous evening. "Natsu was wonderful…and I said I wouldn't mind going on another date with him sometime, b-but not right away. A lot of things went down last night, and it's going to take some time to let it all sink in. I want my mind to be totally clear if we try again."

"Well that's perfectly understandable," Lisanna laughed, drumming her fingers on the table. "Although, where has Natsu been today? I thought for sure he'd be here bright and early to boast about last night."

"That definitely would be like him," Lucy groaned with a faint brush dusting her cheeks, recalling his little celebration the previous evening. She shook it off before sinking low in her seat. "...I hope I didn't upset him by making him hold off. He shouldn't have to wait for me-!"

"Aw, now don't say that!" Lisanna draped her hands on Lucy's shoulders and cut her off. "You two need each other, whether you realize it or not. I think it's good that you've agreed to not force yourselves to jump into things. It'll be better for you both to be on the exact same page if you decide to change something up."

"Yeah…that's pretty much what Natsu said, actually," Lucy sniffed in surprise, hastily wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "After so much teasing and people trying to push us together, it's refreshing to hear someone being okay with us, you know, staying as we are."

"Everyone's just having a little fun with you guys, you know!" The Animal Soul mage tilted her head with a joyous smile. "At the end of the day, it'll always be _your_ choice."

"I know, I know…" Suddenly the helm of Lucy's skirt was ridiculously interesting as she tugged at it. "But I can't help but feel bad! Am I holding Natsu back? Have I changed our dynamic? I dunno but-"

Her breath hitched when Lisanna gave her shoulders a reassuring squeeze, quickly shaking her head.

"No, Lucy- you _always_ push Natsu forward!" Lisanna's eyes were wide and shimmering, Lucy almost getting lost in their innocent bright blue hue. "I've known him for a long time, and he's a guy that needs just one person to consistently spur him on, and reminds him that everything will be okay eventually…that it may get a little worse before it gets better…"

She beamed as tears pinpricked her eyes, her smile terse.

"And I know, because, that used to be me…until things changed, of course…I was the one Natsu always went to so he could cheer himself up…"

Lucy, attentive as ever, caught on rather quickly as her eyes widened in horror. "O-Oh no, Lisanna, you still-! I didn't know, I-I didn't mean, oh god I'm so-"

"Don't apologize, _please_."

Lucy was about to protest until Lisanna suddenly tugged her into a tight hug, and not a bit of malice was present on her face.

"I want to thank you, Lucy. So much… No matter what happens between you two, I want to thank you for being there for him when I couldn't, and for when I can't. You must've had a huge impact for him to care about you as much as he does…so thank you for making him happy, Lucy. I see no reason for me to be upset."

"L-Lisanna…!" Lucy stammered in response to the sudden confession, overwhelmed by emotion, but Lisanna continued without missing a beat.

"I'm sure Natsu's doing fine right now as well- you know how he likes to be alone when big things happen." Lisanna giggled knowingly as she pulled away, eyeing Lucy with a mischievous grin. "I wonder just what would've made him do that~?"

"Well long story short his magic was pretty drained, so I wouldn't be surprised if he was sleeping it off, as usual," Lucy hummed, although when she suddenly turned red straight down to her neck. Lisanna couldn't help but notice and smirk.

"Oooh, it must be something scandalous in that case~"

"N-No, nothing like that! Uwaah, _don't tell a soul_, but, um…" Lucy glanced around shiftily before leaning in towards Lisanna. She turned a few shades darker until she finally admitted on a whisper, "…I _may_ have given him a gratitude kiss last night. Just a small one!"

"Aww, that's cute," Lisanna gushed with a squeal. "But yeah, something like that would probably have Natsu dazed, hm hm…especially if it was his first~"

"Oi," Lucy lamented, planting her face into the counter. Lisanna chuckled at Lucy's embarrassment, patting her supportively on the back while rising from the chair.

"Either way, don't worry so much! I bet the poor boy's just flustered beyond belief. He'll be around soon enough, back to his quirky ol' self."

"I suppose you're right," Lucy beamed, lifting her head and offering a grin. If there was one thing they both knew, it was that Natsu ALWAYS came through in the end without a doubt. "…thank _you_, Lisanna."

"Anytime! I just want the best for everyone!" Lisanna hummed back as she picked up her tray. "But I'd better get back to helping Mira-nee and Kinana now, but you stay well, okay?"

"I'll do my best- see ya later!"

Lisanna gave a small wave as she contently waltzed off. Lucy heaved a gentle sigh, feeling a little better but no less lonely.

Seeing that her main chunk of friends was off doing whatever, she smiled to herself. She never would have expected Gajeel to come around in the way he had, and she was so proud of Levy for opening up a lot more. Lucy remembered how anxious Levy had been about everything, and now there she was, able to carry a flawless conversation with him…and Gajeel too, was so much less hesitant.

Then Gray and Juvia…both of them had acknowledged their own individual flaws, and managed to grow closer because of it. Lucy always knew Gray was more of a closed up person, but it was so obvious that he cared nevertheless…and Juvia, she cared _so_ much that it was nearly impossible to reign herself in. In some way, perhaps they truly were a perfect fit for one another, and it was good that they came to see that for themselves.

Sure, not everything had changed between all them, but important steps had been taken… All four of them managed to move forward somehow, even if it was just a tiny step…

"And yet, I was too insecure to take that step with Natsu," she murmured quietly, glancing shamefully at her melting milkshake. "There's nothing wrong with that…but Natsu's probably burning away a picture of me right now because of it…"

"Uh, no he's not."

"Things are probably going to be awkward no matter what now," Lucy continued to lament, letting her shoulders sag.

"Eh, only if you make it so. I think you're okay though."

"…I just want to be as carefree as everyone else is…"

"But Luce, we already are!"

Only _now_ did Lucy register that second voice, turning next to her to find Natsu with his hands in his pockets and a silly grin on his face, along with Happy smirking fiercely over his shoulder. It also dawned on Lucy just _what_ Natsu had managed to overhear, and was prepared to "accidentally" throw herself out of her chair in embarrassment; Natsu snagged her and pulled her back before she could spring into action. He looked like he was about to say something before catching a whiff of her vanilla drink and going cross-eyed.

"…hey, what the heck? What are you doing having something tasty without me?!"

Lucy temporarily forgot her grief as she groaned at his usual antics.

"When did you even _get _here?!"

"Just now…why, did something happen?"

"Well, Lisanna and some others were wondering where you were…" A hand fell to her hip as she raised an eyebrow. "…and yeah, Gajeel brought the group milkshakes because of some bet of yours…?"

"Damn, missed out on the milkshakes," Natsu tsked, making a brief face at his forgetfulness. But seeing that Lucy still expected an answer, he grew a little sheepish as he rubbed at his neck. "Buuuuut, I was doing something relatively important, so I'll let it slide."

"Oh? And what is that supposed to mean?"

"That depends!" His smile lit up his face, making Lucy grin a bit as well. "Do ya want the good news first, or the bad?"

"…mmm, I should probably say good news."

"Too bad- you get the worse news first!" Natsu eagerly threw his arms into the air and looked like he'd made some great discovery. "I went by your apartment earlier to greet ya, but you had already left…and then on my way out I ran into your landlady? Said to remind you to pay your rent tomorrow…and also said I could stand to pay some too since I'm over there so often, but I have like nooo idea what she's talking about-"

"WHAT?!" Lucy screeched, hands flying to her face as her eyes widened in panic. "…oh no, tomorrow's Sunday! My rent is due again! Uwaaaah I have _no _way to pay it all, and all these shenanigans made me forget! Oh my god I'll be evicted for sure this time-!"

"Not necessarily," chimed Happy, taking out a fish to snack on as he plopped down on Natsu's shoulder. Lucy shot him a questioning look.

"…ah, yeah, I figured I was partially to blame for you forgetting." Natsu smiled shyly and scratched his cheek before whipping out a piece of paper. "So, here comes the good news- I asked around and managed to land a job for us that'll perfectly get your rent paid off! How's that?!"

"N-Natsu, that's fantastic…!" Relief bled into her tone, but then, so did disappointment. "B-But if we have to travel, there's no way we'll be back in time to deliver the money…i-it's…we can't…ah man-"

"Oh, he _also_ managed to bribe that cranky landlady into giving you three extra days to pay," Happy elaborated aloofly through his latest bite of fish, making Natsu blanch and sweatdrop.

"Ehehehe…youweren'tsupposedtotellher_thatpart_-!"

His complaint was cut off by Lucy abruptly throwing herself at him, Natsu barely able to wrap his arms around her waist and catch her. She clutched him close, not caring who saw, and gave him the tightest hug she could muster up. He glanced at her with confusion, and was even more surprised to find her pulling herself towards his ear.

"Thank you, Natsu," she whispered; he shrugged and slightly turned away, glad that her position prevented her from seeing the traces of his blush. "You always come through for me…even when you don't have to…"

"Yeah, well, there's not really a reason to thank me…I like looking out for ya, Luce!" His grin turned cheeky again as he patted her head. "And if you had to move away, I wouldn't get to sleep in that comfy bed of yours~!"

She bopped him lightly on the shoulder for the bed comment, but instead of dropping her, he chuckled under his breath and tossed her, catching her so that she was being held bridal style. Before Lucy could say anything he'd bolted out the doors and tore down the street, making Lucy wail and grab onto him to steady herself, with Happy tittering after them.

"Ack, what're you doing?! I can _walk_!"

"I know, but the client needs to meet up with us tonight! You take _forever _to pack, so I figured carrying ya home would be faster."

"I do _not_ take that long!" Lucy hissed, waving a fist around. "And you probably just want an excuse to carry me."

"And what if I_ do_?"

Lucy gaped at his abrupt retort; Natsu returned it with an infectious wink and a smirk. After having a staring contest with him for the longest time, she heaved a sigh in defeat and relaxed in his hold.

"You are such a dork…"

Natsu perked up and immediately beamed proudly. "But I'm_ your_ dork!"

"AYE SIR~!" Happy added afterward, throwing his paws over his head.

Lucy found herself laughing at their enthusiasm, eventually deciding to just cave in and welcome this new excuse for an adventure. She knew in that moment that everything would be fine between them- like Natsu said, no matter what, they were always going to be friends…

…But still…

Cana Alberona's fortunes were scarcely ever wrong. And Lucy's hunches had been correct- that mere dinner outing had been the start of something huge for that trio of couples… The people that got Gajeel and Gray to come around were more than obvious, yet Lucy didn't concern herself with them.

It was the fact that, thanks to a single six of hearts and one crazy night, she had finally gotten a taste of what real romance was like…

At the same time, she couldn't be happier.

"…I love you guys," Lucy sighed softly, a light smile taking over her face as she remained leaned up against Natsu, as though nothing was wrong with the world. Happy grinned and made an offhanded comment about loving fish; Natsu's eyes went slightly wide as he and glanced back down at Lucy resting in his arms. Seeing the blissfully content expression she wore caused him to smile as well, making his heart race just the faintest bit.

"…love you too, Luce."

And for right now, as they raced off to their next adventure, Natsu discovered that he couldn't be happier either…

…because Lucy being happy at his side, in one way or another, was _always_ going to be the best case scenario.


End file.
